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MISSIONARY 
INUTES 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



FIVE MISSIONARY MINUTES 



FIVE MISSIONARY 
MINUTES 

Brief Missionary Material 

for Platform Use in the Sunday School 

for 52 Sundays in the Year 



By 

GEORGE H. TRULL 

Author of " Missionary Methods for Sunday School Workers." 

Editor of " Missionary Studies for the Sunday School," 

First, Second, and Third Series 



FIRST SERIES 



NEW YORK 

Missionary Education Movement of the 

United States and Canada 

1912 



v>\ 






Copyright, 1912, 

BY 

Missionary Education Movement of the 
United States and Canada 



g;CI.A3l2389 






I 



i 



What are churches for but'to make mis- 
sionaries? What is education for but to 
train them? What is commerce for but 
to carry them? What is money for but 
to send them ? What is life itself for but 
to fulfil the purpose of missions, the en- 
throning of Jesus Christ in the hearts of 
men? 

Dr. A. H, Strong. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface . xi 

PART I 
INTRODUCTORY 

Chapter I. Missionary Education Every Sunday . 1 
Chapter II. Missions in the Worship of the Sunday 

School 3 

Chapter III. Personal Service 6 

Chapter IV. Missionary Miscellany .... 8 

Chapter Y. Special Days and Occasions . . .14 

Chapter VI. How to Use the Material . . .14 

PART II 
MATERIAL FOR FIFTY-TWO SUNDAYS 

Arrangement of the Material 22 

Presentation of the Material 25 

FIRST QUARTER 

1. Scripture Introduction. Genesis i. 1; John iii. 16 — 
The Verses that Led to Neesima's (Nee'-si-ma) Con- 
version (Japan) 25 

2. Field Item. A Dramatic Close to a Prayer Meeting 
(Home Missions) 27 

3. Prayer Introduction. Repeating and Praying the 
Lord's Prayer (Porto Rico) 28 

4. Scripture Introduction. Psalm xci — Facing Death 
Without Flinching (China) 29 

5. Hymn Introduction. All Hail the Power of Jesus' 
Name (Africa) 30 

6. Field Item. Treating Dyspepsia in Korea . . .30 

7. Scripture Introduction. Matthew xxviii. 19, 20 — A 
Command and a Promise (Africa) 31 

vii 



viii Contents 

PAGE 

8. Field Item. An Indian Defends the Bible (Home 
Missions 33 

9. Field Item. How an African Witch Doctor was Put 
out of Business 34 

10. Prayer Introduction. The Lord's Prayer Amended 
(General) . 35 

11. Recruiting for Service by a Hymn Introduction. 
Speed Away, Speed Away on Your Mission of Light . 36 

12. Book Announcement. Foreign Mission Volume, The 
Days of June 38 

13. Field Letter (Alaska). Typical Letter from a Present- 
day Home Missionary 40 

SECOND QUARTER 

14. Field Item. The Cooking Stove in Davy's Head 
(Home Missions) 43 

15. Giving, First Sunday. How the Native Christians 
Give. Illustrations from Africa, Alaska, and China . 44 

16. Giving, Second Sunday. How the Native Christians 
Give. Illustrations from India, Laos, Southern Moun- 
taineers in North America, and from Korea . . .47 

17. Giving, Third Sunday. Why I Should Give to Mis- 
sions — Seven Word Pictures 52 

18. Giving, Fourth Sunday. Kingdom Day — Subscrip- 
tion Pledges to Missions . . . ' . . .54 

19. Recruiting for Service by a Field Item. A Gift of 
Days (Korea) . . 56 

20. Recruiting for Service by a Field Item. A Boy Fol- 
lows His Dollar to the Mission Field (India) . . .57 

21. Field Item. The Romantic Story of the First Foreign 
Missionaries of the Korean Church . . . .59 

22. Book Announcement. Home Mission Volume, Down 

to the Sea ......... 61 

23. Field Letter (China). Typical Letter from a Present- 
day Foreign Missionary 62 

24. Hymn Introduction and Scripture. Onward, Christian 
Soldiers— Revelation vii. 9-17 65 

25. Temperance Item. Where Liquor is Currency and 
Children are Pawned for Drink (Africa) . . . 66 

26. Field Item. An Immigrant's Life Story (Home 
Missions) ' . . .67 



Contents ix 

THIRD QUARTER 

PAGE 

27. Scripture Introduction. Isaiah liii. 3-7; John iii. 14-18 
—Hearing the Crucifixion Story for the First Time 
(Home Missions) 69 

28. Recruiting for Service by Suggesting Definite Activity. 
Utilizing Waste Material (China, India, Korea) . . 70 

29. Field Item. Bible Study under Difficulties (Brazil) . 73 

30. Scripture Introduction and Prayer. Numbers xxxii. 
23; Proverbs xxviii. 13— The Influence of a Stolen Bible 
(Lndia) - . 73 

31. Hymn Introduction. Throw Out the Life Line (Home 
Missions) 75 

32. Field Letter, Canada. Typical Letter from a Mis- 
sionary Magazine 76 

33. Report on Missionary Investments. The Boy Who 
Wanted to Know about the Returns . . . .79 

34. Scripture Introduction and Hymn. Psalm xxxiv. 
4-7 ; Psalm cxxiv— Psalms of the Besieged at Peking. 
Hymn, Peace, Perfect Peace (China) . . . .80 

35. Prayer Introduction. ' Kedo hapsata " Let Us Pray 
(Korea) 81 

36. Book Announcement Home and Foreign Mission 
Volume, Adventuies with Four Footed Folk . . 82 

37. Field Item. An Appeal that Brought the Church 

in Honan to Independence (Korea) ' . . .83 

38. Temperance Item. Indians Whom Fire Water Could 
Not Tempt 84 

39. Field Item. A Laos Evangelist Tears His Bible in 
Pieces 85 



FOURTH QUARTER 

40 Field Item. Idolatry Transplanted in North America 87 

41. Scripture Introduction. Matthew xiv. 13-21— Feeding 

the Hungry (India) ...... 88 

42. Hymn Introduction From Greenland's Icy Mountains 89 

43. Prayer Introduction. A Prayer for David Livingstone 
(Africa) .... 90 

44. Book Announcement Home Mission Volume, An 
American Bride in Porto Rico 91 



x Contents 

PAGE 

45. Recruiting for Service by a Scripture Introduction. 
John iv. 35 ; Matthew ix. 38 ; Mark xvi. 15— Three 
Statements of Jesus Regarding Missions (General) . 92 

46. Field Letters. Typical Ones from Great Missionaries 95 

47. Field Item. Grit Wins an Education (Negro, Home 
Missions) 100 

48. Temperance Item. A South African Chief Advocates 
Temperance 103 

49. Prayer Introduction. Talking with God (Syria) . 105 

50. Scripture Introduction. 1 Kings xviii. 25-46 — An 
Ancient and a Modern Drought Broken (China) . . 105 

51. Field Item. A Navajo (Na'-va-ho) Rite Between Sun- 
set and Dawn (Home Missions) .... 107 

52. Hymn Introduction. How Firm a Foundation (China) 109 



PART III 
MATERIAL FOR SPECIAL DAYS 

Sunday Nearest New Year. The Korean Way of 

Turning over a New Leaf on New Year . . . 110 
Easter Sunday. Suwartha's First Easter Day . . 110 
Children's Day. Erecting the Family Altar . . 113 

Empire Day (July First) or Independence Day (July 

Fourth.) The Boy Who Honored the Flag . . .114 
World's Temperance Sunday. Bishop Whipple and 

the Indian's Fire- Water 114 

Peace Sunday. Swords Become Plowshares and Spears 

Pruning Hooks 115 

Sunday Nearest Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day 

in Central Africa 116 

Sunday Nearest Christmas. 

Christmas an Unknown Day to a Missouri Settler . 117 

Santa Claus in Korea 118 

Index 119 



PREFACE 

Sufficient missionary material has been collected in 
this volume for fifty-two Sundays in the year. It is 
arranged for use in the Sunday-school from the desk, 
either directly in connection with Scripture, prayer, 
and hymns, or otherwise during the opening or closing 
periods. It has been prepared for what is often termed 
the " Main School," that is, for grades above the Pri- 
mary. Much of it can be adapted, however, to the 
needs of any particular grade. 

All of the items are brief, requiring not more than 
three to five minutes a Sunday for presentation. Unity 
of theme for the entire year has not been attempted. 

It is not desirable in a single year to use a greater 
variety of topics than is here presented. It is hoped 
that a later volume will give, in addition to some of 
the features of the present one, such additional topics 
as Map Drills, Stories, Impersonations, and similar 
material. 

The subject-matter in this volume is arranged for 
use in schools that have either the Uniform or Graded 
Sunday School Lessons. 

George H. Trull. 

New York, March 25, 1912. 



FIVE MISSIONARY MINUTES 

Part I 

INTRODUCTORY 

CHAPTER I 
MISSIONARY EDUCATION EVERY SUNDAY 

Missionary Education Essential 

One of the leading aims of the Sunday-school is to 
develop Christian character. Missionary instruction is 
an essential part of such training, and must therefore 
be provided in such ways as the needs of the local 
school demand. Because missions are so intimately 
and vitally related to Bible study, prayer, singing, giv- 
ing, personal service, temperance, and other subjects 
dealt with in the Sunday-school, the topic can be in- 
troduced in a natural and normal way practically every 
week, as an integral part of the session. It should 
never be " tacked on " or " lugged in ; " its place is 
fundamental. 

Missions Essentially Unique 

Missionary instruction cannot be regarded in exactly 
the same way as are some other subjects in the cur- 
riculum, such as temperance teaching, Bible geography, 
Bible history, Church history, instruction in Church 
doctrine and polity. These subjects, important and 
necessary, do not, however, suggest the spirit in which, 
or the standpoint from which, every lesson should be 
taught. Missions is really the central theme of the 
Bible, so that whatever part of it is studied, whether 

1 



2 Five Missionary Minutes 

historical, poetical, prophetical, or doctrinal, it should 
be approached in the spirit of one who desires spiritual 
truth for the purpose of fitting him to find his place 
and to do his duty in the expanding kingdom of God. 
For this reason we are not only warranted, but com- 
pelled, to plan for missionary education for the entire 
year. 

Missions Must be Introduced Normally 

Missions every Sunday does not mean the revolu- 
tionizing and complete overturning of the Sunday- 
school session, but rather the introduction of the mis- 
sionary idea into the regular opening or closing period 
of worship in a normal way. The purpose is not to 
show how ingeniously the missionary idea can be 
brought forward, but how naturally it is related to the 
development of spiritual life, and how aptly it fits into 
the regular session. 

Five-Minutes-a-Sunday Method 

Owing to the brevity of time of the Sunday-school 
session, and the lack of facilities for more intensive 
and effective work, the plan of missionary instruction 
presented in this volume is the only one that is feasible 
in a very large number of Sunday-schools. It is hoped, 
however, that the Sunday-school that uses this " five- 
minutes-a-Sunday method" for a year or more, will be 
led in due time to undertake in certain classes or 
departments, at least, more thorough mission study. 

Its Advantages 

Some very distinct advantages of the " five-minutes- 
a- Sunday method " are apparent. 

1. It is simple but effective. 

2. It does not require extensive preparation. 

3. The items are very brief. 

4. There is great variety of material. 

5. There is much variety of presentation. 

6. It produces definite missionary impression through 

consecutive presentation of missionary facts. 

7. It will also help to remove prejudice to mission- 



Five Missionary Minutes 3 

ary instruction in the Sunday-school; for it 
proves not only how interesting missions are, 
but how intimately they are related to the 
Christian life. 

The Missionary Five Minutes a Variable Period 
in the Session 

Emphasis should be laid upon the fact that there 
should not be a special and set five-minute period for 
the presentation of missionary material, always at the 
same hour, say at 9.35 a.m., or 10.40 a.m., or 3.15 p.m. 
every Sunday. This will defeat the very aim to make 
missionary, education normal. By the Five Missionary 
Minutes we mean rather a brief period allotted from 
week to week at different times for the introduction of 
the missionary idea. Sometimes this may be in the 
opening period of worship, sometimes in the closing. 
The five minutes or less will be utilized whenever the 
material in hand can be most effectively presented. 



CHAPTEE II 

MISSIONS IN THE WOKSHIP OF THE 
SUNDAY SCHOOL 

The worship of the Sunday-school ordinarily in- 
cludes the singing of hymns, prayer, the reading of 
Scripture, and the presentation of offerings. The aim 
of this book is to introduce through these features the 
missionary idea in a natural way. 

Missionary Introductions to Hymns and Mission- 
ary Hymns 

In addition to the specific missionary hymns to be 
found in most hymnals, many other hymns have a broad 
missionary significance because of their relation to 
certain events in Church or mission history. To call 
attention to these incidents when announcing the hymn 
will help the pupils to enter into the situation, and, 



4 Five Missionary Minutes 

therefore, to appreciate its missionary bearing. This is 

Whn S r7V y a m j ssionar y "hymn introduction" 

Who can fail ever afterward to associate the stnr;«U 

connected with "All hail the power of tsus' nlm T» 

Onward Christian soldiers," and "How firm a 

foundation/' related on pages 30, 65, and To9 when 

once they have been told? ' 

Missionary Introductions to Prayer 

. The Church as a whole and its individual members 
in particular need to give much larger place to Inter- 
cessory prayer Training in this form of prayer should 
be given m the Sunday-school. The sphere of much 

hmfted n0 ^l 0ffered ^ the rf age ^day-school "too 
S w L B } e T n f s a l e as ^d upon the local school and 
tta7lt the d / y '- bu V the s y sto »atic presentation of 
fempkted ^ **" PUWiC prayer is not con " 

. To engage in intelligent intercessory prayer for mis- 
sions one must enlarge his missionary knowledge, Zd 
on the other hand, an acquaintance with thi farts 
needs, and conditions will stimulate intercessory prayer 
and, at the same time, the devotional life 

In the Prayer Introductions that follow in Part II 
some brief missionary incidents are so given as to lead 

Sr tU l?K y a " d direC l ly t0 PW. While due re 
gard should be given to the development of systematic 
prayer for great world topics, it must be remeXred 

S?l ^^T f ° r ^\ na ' fOT exam P le > in the abstract 
will never be as vital as to pray for some particular 
individual in China, or some form of work presented 
n a concrete incident. The value of Prayer Introduc- 

X°fl„% ' ther J^ ore > m . thei * concreteness, so that 
definite prayer follows logically. 

• T D 6 ? S f T ? theSe missi onary Introductions to Prayer 
in Part II is not meant to take the place of the de- 
nominational or interdenominational prayer cvcles 

n^v., P T de apla - n f °, r b0th ^stematic and definite 
prayer. _ Denominational cycles can be obtained from 
the various Mission Boards, and interdenominational 
prayer cycles, at ten cents each, from the Missionary 



Five Missionary Minutes 5 

Education Movement, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York 
City, and the Student Volunteer Movement, 125 East 
27th Street, New York City. In the Appendix to the 
Rev. Andrew Murray's Ministry of Intercession will be 
found an excellent cycle entitled " Pray without Ceas- 
ing." It can be had in leaflet form from the Fleming 
H. Eevell Co., New York, at 3 cents a copy, 35 cents a 
dozen. 

Missionary Introductions to Scripture Lessons 

In the Sunday-schools that use the Uniform Les- 
sons the Scripture passage in the worship of the school 
is usually the Uniform Lesson for the day, or some 
parallel passage relating to it, or an entirely different 
passage selected by the superintendent. With the in- 
creasing use of Graded Lessons many of the schools 
are adopting the last-mentioned course. Either con- 
secutive Scripture is read from week to week, or a 
selected passage is chosen for the day. 

The use of the selected passage not only gives variety, 
but the superintendent can determine the particular 
message he desires to enforce by means of the Scripture 
lessons. As in the case of the hymns, many passages 
of Scripture not distinctly missionary in content have 
a missionary significance because of their connection 
with missionary events or incidents. It is just here 
that the Missionary Introductions to Scripture passages 
presented in this book furnish to the superintendent 
selected material which he can use to convey a mis- 
sionary impression. 

Missionary Education Through Giving 

Kingdom Day is a title which has been applied to 
that Sunday in the year when the Sunday-school takes 
its annual pledges for missionary offerings on the 
weekly or monthly basis. The observance of such a day 
in every Sunday-school is strongly urged. Whether 
such a day is observed or not, surely the school should 
be given constant opportunity to contribute to mis- 
sionary and other benevolent causes. The incidents on 



6 Five Missionary Minutes 

Giving contained in Part II have all been grouped to- 
gether with a view to leading up through successive 
Sundays to Kingdom Day. The interest thus aroused 
should lead to some definite consecration of money by 
members of the school. Care must be exercised not to 
arouse interest without providing and suggesting 
proper and adequate expression. 

Schools that have not adopted systematic giving with 
the use of individual pledges should correspond with 
their denominational Mission Board regarding plans 
and methods. 

In schools where Kingdom Day and individual pledge 
cards are not in use, the items under Giving may be 
reported as incentives to the school to give generously 
to missions by whatever financial plan the offerings 
are received. 

It is important that definite reports should be made 
from time to time to the school regarding the disburse- 
ment of the money. If your school is contributing to 
some specific work at home or abroad, you should re- 
ceive from your Mission Board letters three or four 
times a year telling about the work. If your school 
is contributing to the general work of your Board, some 
brief report should be made occasionally, showing the 
use of the money that has been contributed. How to 
introduce such a report is told on page 79. 



CHAPTEE III 
PEKSONAL SEKVICE 

Church Membership Must be Trained for Service 

The development of Christian character demands 
that the individual should engage in some form of per- 
sonal Christian service. To express oneself entirely 
by proxy tends to dwarf spiritual growth and to atrophy 
spiritual energies. Many Christians, instead of en- 
gaging in personal Christian work and testimony, have 
come to regard these as the particular work of evangel- 



Five Missionary Minutes 7 

ists or pastors. The consequence is that we have to- 
day in America largely an untrained Church. If the 
Church is to fulfil its true mission, it cannot content 
itself with training a few individuals here and there 
for leadership and activity. It must address itself to 
the larger task of training its entire membership for 
effective service. 

Missionary Education Directs into Service 

One of the chief values, therefore, of missionary edu- 
cation in the Sunday-school is that it directs the 
energies of the young people into definite forms of 
Christian service, — to visit the sick, to carry flowers 
to the shut-ins, to bring happiness into the life of 
the desolate and afflicted, to secure members for the 
Sunday-school and church, and to send boxes of cloth- 
ing, toys, and other articles to the mission field. These 
are a few of the many forms of Christian service which 
may be engaged in. 

Utilization of Waste Material 

One of the most practical forms of useful missionary 
activity is the sending to the mission fields such waste 
material as Primary picture cards, the quarterly pic- 
ture rolls, illustrated story papers and magazines, 
scrap-books, picture post-cards, all of which should be 
in good condition and not broken or soiled. The 
World's Sunday School Association has established at 
its office, 1415 Mailers Building, Chicago, Illinois, the 
Department for the Utilization of Waste Material, and 
by writing to its Superintendent at the address just 
given, you will be put in touch at once with some mis- 
sionary on the field at home or abroad to whom you can 
send your waste material. Be sure to mention your 
denomination in full. 

Reports of Personal Service Stimulate Activity 
and Worship 

These various activities in which pupils may engage 
will be suggested either by the teachers to their classes, 



8 Five Missionary Minutes 

or by the superintendent to the school as a whole, or 
by both. To express an appeal for personal service, to 
state a method of work, or to give a report of some- . 
thing done may produce responses from the pupils, 
when mention of these things is made, which will con- 
stitute a very high type of religious worship. This 
justifies the mention of these things in the worship 
periods of the Sunday-school session. 

In addition to this feature of worship in the Sun- 
day-school session, it must be remembered that the 
actual engaging in personal service is also an act of 
worship. There are a few specific suggestions in this 
connection under the caption " Recruiting for Service/ 7 
in Part II, such as items for the eleventh, nineteenth, 
twentieth, twenty-eighth, and forty-fifth Sundays, and 
the leader will doubtless see on other Sundays oppor- 
tunities for similar emphasis. 



CHAPTER IV 

MISSIONARY MISCELLANY 

In addition to the specific items mentioned in Chap- 
ter II under " Missions in the Worship of the Sunday- 
school," the opening and closing periods afford oppor- 
tunity for presenting large variety of other missionary 
material, such as Field Items, Book and Magazine An- 
nouncements, Field Letters. 

Field Items 

One day Bishop Selwyn of New Zealand, while vis- 
iting Judge Patteson in England, " said, half in play- 
fulness and half in earnest : ' Lady Patteson, will you 
give me Coley? ' She started, but did not say no; and 
when, independently of this, her son told her that it 
was his greatest desire to go with the bishop, she re- 
plied that if he kept that wish when he grew up he 
should have her blessing and consent." Years after- 
ward Coleridge Patteson joined Bishop Selwyn in his 
labors in the South Sea Islands. 



Five Missionary Minutes 9 

In the Sunday-school composed largely of young 
people of impressionable age one never knows what 
may come from the sowing of missionary seed. The 
mere dropping of a remark, or telling of a brief story 
from the mission field may result in missionary deci- 
sions. This justifies the taking of three to five min- 
utes occasionally for the presentation of striking field 
items. 

Book and Magazine Announcements 

In a year's time considerable missionary knowledge 
will be gained by any Sunday-school that follows the 
" five-minutes-a- Sunday method " of instruction. It is 
very necessary, however, to supplement this method and 
any class study that may be done, by stimulating 
the reading of missionary literature outside the Sun- 
day-school session. There are scores of readable 
missionary books appearing every year for all 
ages, and the Missionary Committee of the school 
should keep in touch with these books and recommend 
from time to time their reading. Some of them should 
be purchased and put in the Sunday-school library. If 
this is not feasible, then see if the public library will 
not secure them. The librarians of many such li- 
braries are glad to provide any books that the Sunday- 
school workers of the community desire. This sug- 
gests the close cooperation that should exist among the 
Missionary Committees of all the Sunday-schools of a 
community or neighborhood. 

How to Get Books Bead 

In order to get books read, interest must be aroused 
in them.* This often can be done in a progressive 
way. For example, many people who would not at the 
outset read Underwood's The Call of Korea, would be 
attracted to it after reading Mrs. Baird's Daybreak 
in Korea. Gale's Korean Sketches, though a delight- 
ful book, is a title which might not appeal at first to 
some people who would read The Vanguard, by the 

* See the author's Missionary Methods for Sunday School 
Workers, chapter XII. 



10 Five Missionary Minutes 

same author, which is semi-fiction. The Missionary 
Committee may definitely plan, sometime, to arouse in- 
terest in missionary volumes by beginning with a book 
of fiction which deals with some phase of missionary 
work, and thus lead gradually on to the distinctly mis- 
sionary volume. 

This principle applies also to magazine articles. In 
fact, many people who will not read a book will read a 
magazine. By recommending books after the manner 
illustrated on the twelfth, twenty-second, thirty-sixth, 
and forty-fourth Sundays, it will be possible not only 
to get these books read, but the incident announcing 
them will furnish valuable missionary information even 
in case the book is not read. Care must be taken to 
recommend books that will appeal to the natural inter- 
ests of particular grades. In general, stories of ad- 
venture, daring, travel, and biography will appeal to 
most young people. Keep abreast of the latest mis- 
sionary literature, and recommend also some of the 
older classics. For lists of good missionary books, 
write to your own denominational Mission Board, or to 
the Missionary Education Movement, 156 Fifth Ave- 
nue, New York City, mentioning your denomination 
when you write. 

Field Letters 

The particular value of a missionary letter in a 
Sunday-school lies in the fact that it comes as a per- 
sonal message from workers in the mission field. It is 
the next best thing to the presence of the missionary 
himself. Different types of missionary letters are avail- 
able. For example : 

1. Letters from the missionary or missionaries at 
home and abroad to whose support the school con- 
tributes. 

2. Letters received by individual members of the 
church or Sunday-school from friends on the field, 
some of whom may have been former members of the 
local church or school. 

3. Letters in the missionary magazines and religious 
press, 



1 



Five Missionary Minutes 11 

4. Selected letters in the biographies of great mis- 
sionaries, such as those of David Livingstone, John 
Kenneth Mackenzie, James Gilmour of Mongolia, 
George Grenfell of the Kongo, Bishop Hannington, and 
others. 

5. Letters from natives on the mission field. 

Use Extracts, Wot Entire Letters 

Seldom, if ever, should an entire missionary letter 
be read to the Sunday-school, unless it is very brief. 
Time does not permit a long letter, and it is almost 
impossible to hold the attention throughout its reading. 
If it is a long letter, and even if it is intensely inter- 
esting all the way through, it is better to select choice 
extracts from it for public presentation, adding that 
these are but a few of the good things it contains. If 
deemed wise, it might be added that copies will be ready 
for distribution at the close of the school on applica- 
tion to the Missionary Correspondence Secretary. It 
is well thus to whet the appetite. 

What to Do with "Dull" Letters 

Letters which seem dull and lack the narrative and 
concrete elements, should be carefully scanned for 
the facts that they contain, and instead of reading 
paragraphs from the letter itself, the facts should be 
clothed in another form, and a point of contact be- 
tween them and the local Sunday-school should be 
found. Thus even a dull letter may provide the basis 
of a most interesting presentation of missionary in- 
formation. Instead of berating the missionary, if the 
letter be dull, let the school set itself to secure some 
one who can take hold of even a most ordinary mis- 
sionary letter, and place its statement in a new and 
glowing setting, thereby really transforming that letter 
into a message that the school will delight to hear. 

Present the Letter to the School with Animation 

Whoever presents a missionary letter must do it with 
animation and enthusiasm. If it is read in a singsong, 



12 Five Missionary Minutes 

monotonous tone, without any animation, even the 
choicest letter may be ruined. Everything depends 
upon the spirit and manner of presentation. 

Be Familiar with It 

Be sure to be perfectly familiar with the letter be- 
fore attempting to read it in public. Mark the parts 
you are to read, so that the eye will readily catch 
them. If the letter is written by hand and not by type- 
writer, be sure in advance that it is legible to you, 
for if it is read haltingly because of inability to de- 
cipher it, the whole effect will be lost. 

Variety in Presentation 

A variety of ways of presenting letters to a Sunday- 
school is illustrated in Part II, and these methods may 
be applied to other missionary letters received from 
time to time. Just how a particular letter will be 
presented will depend largely on its contents, and the 
particular end in view. The selection of certain ex- 
tracts and the exclusion of others must be determined 
by local needs and conditions, as well as by the factor 
of interest. 

In order that Sunday-school workers may study fully 
the typical methods of presentation, the actual letter 
as written by a missionary is given in Part II as well 
as its " adaptation " for local use. 

Write to Your Missionary 

The missionary can be helped to write better letters 
if he is told the kind of things the school wants to 
know. For instance, ask the missionary to send the 
story of what it cost some Hindu girl or boy in the 
mission school to break caste and become a Christian, 
to give the details, so that the picture may glow, or 
ask for a word picture of some of the actual needs he 
has seen on his last itinerating trip. Comment upon 
some statements he has made in his last letter to the 
school, indicating that you have actually read it. 

A missionary in the Philippines makes this state- 
ment, which is apropos: 



Five Missionary Minutes 13 

" If friends at home would write more, they would be doing real 
missionary service. Letters from societies and individuals, whether 
acquainted or not, not ' missionary letters,' but bright, newsy letters, 
telling what is going on in the church, about their work and about 
their frolics, would be like a touch of a friendly hand across the water, 
and would bring a ray of light into what might happen to be a dark 
day. Most people seem to think that the missionary should do all the 
writing ; but we don't think so.'' 

Some Sunday-schools complain about infrequent let- 
ters from the field, and never think of sending any re- 
ply whatsoever to the missionary. Some missionaries 
have yet to receive their first letter from the Sunday- 
school or other organization to whom they are send- 
ing repeated communications. If you expect interest- 
ing letters from the field, you can help to secure them 
by writing direct to the missionary and revealing that 
you have some personal, living interest in him. 

Encourage the pupils to write personally to the mis- 
sionary. It will cheer his heart to know that he is 
thought of at home and that his work is remembered. 
Of course, he cannot write individual replies to all 
such letters, and they should not be expected, but there 
is hardly a missionary anywhere who will not gladly 
send to the correspondents of any Sunday-school or 
church a group letter, and this will meet every ordinary 
demand. A personal interest can then be established 
between the Sunday-school and the missionary, and 
when he is home on furlough, a visit from him to the 
Sunday-school will be eagerly anticipated by both 
parties. 

A Missionary Correspondence Secretary- 
Some member of the Missionary Committee of the 
Sunday-school should be in charge of this correspond- 
ence with the field, and may be called Missionary Cor- 
respondence Secretary. This person should encourage 
the members of the school to write to the missionary 
and see that the letters are forwarded when so re- 
quested. 

The letters given in Part II are chosen simply as 
typical letters, the contents of which may with profit 
be brought to the attention of any Sunday-school, 



14 Five Missionary Minutes 

CHAPTEE V 

SPECIAL DAYS AND OCCASIONS 

Special Days and Occasions as Missionary Points 
of Contact 

In the Sunday-school year certain days have become 
recognized as occasions for special observance, such 
as Easter, Children's Day, Kally Day, and Christmas. 
Sunday-school publishers and Mission Boards, at such 
times, offer for use in the school appropriate programs 
and exercises. It is not necessary, therefore, in this 
volume to present any such complete services. There 
have been gathered together, however, in Part III a 
number of items and incidents from the mission field 
bearing on the New Year, Easter, Children's Day, a na- 
tional day, such as Empire Day for Canada and Inde- 
pendence Day for the United States, Thanksgiving, 
World's Peace Sunday, and Christmas. Schools that 
may not observe all of these special days with a formal 
program may desire to use some of the items suggested 
in Part III. 

Schools that observe Temperance Sunday quarterly 
will find items relating to the temperance problem on 
the mission field on the twenty-fifth, thirty-eighth, and 
forty-eighth Sundays, and in Part III an item appropri- 
ate for World's Temperance Sunday. 



CHAPTEE VI 
HOW TO USE THE MATEEIAL 

Note. — By all means read this chapter before using any of 
the material in Part II. 

This Volume Much More Than a Compilation 

Two persons told the same story. In one case the 
audience laughed heartily, in the other case there was 
a tense and painful silence. The difference lay, not 



Five Missionary Minutes 15 

in the story material, but in the telling of it. The 
following pages are, therefore, much more than a com- 
pilation of missionary information. They show in 
addition how to present the information; for on this 
everything depends. Care has been taken to select 
material which is fresh and interesting. Like care 
must be taken by those who present it to make it 
graphic. Assignments of the items in Parts II or III 
to those who will present them to the school should be 
made at least one week in advance to insure adequate 
preparation. 

How to Secure Effective Presentations 

If really effective results are to be secured, those 
who present any of the items given in this book should 
observe carefully the following suggestions : 

1. Know your story or incident. Do not be satisfied 
with a general idea of what you are to tell; but know 
it minutely, absolutely. Tell it over to yourself or 
to a friend before trying it on the Sunday-school. 
After you think you have the material in mind, write 
it out, and then compare it with the original. Elim- 
inate all unnecessary ideas, and come to the point as 
quickly as possible. Be sure you know what point 
you want to make, for unless this is clear-cut in your 
own mind, there is no likelihood of your audience 
finding it out. 

Says Mrs. Sara Cone Bryant in her admirable book, 
How to Tell Stories to Children : " One must know 
the story absolutely; it must have been so assimilated 
that it partakes of the nature of personal experience; 
its essence must be so clearly in mind that the teller 
does not have to think of it at all in the act of telling, 
but rather lets it flow from his lips with the uncon- 
scious freedom of a vivid reminiscence. 

" Such knowledge does not mean memorizing. 
Memorizing utterly destroys the freedom of remi- 
niscence, takes away the spontaneity, and substitutes a 
mastery of form for a mastery of essence. It means, 
rather, a perfect grasp of the gist of the story, with 
sufficient familiarity with its form to determine the 



16 Five Missionary Minutes 

manner of its telling. The easiest way to obtain this 
mastery is, I think, to analyze the story into its simplest 
elements of plot. Strip it bare of style, description, in- 
terpolation, and find out simply what happened. Per- 
sonally, I find that I get first an especially vivid concep- 
tion of the climax; this then has to be rounded out by 
a clear perception of the successive steps which lead 
up to the climax. One has, so, the framework of the 
story. The next process is the filling in." 

2. Feel the story, that is, catch its spirit from very 
familiarity with it. You cannot make others see and 
feel its power unless you do so yourself. You must ap- 
preciate it if your audience is to do so. If you know, 
appreciate, and feel the story or incident, then you 
will just ache to tell it. If you are in this mood, 
there will then be no question as to its reception by 
your hearers. A few suggestions may, however, be in 
place. The quotations are taken from Mrs. Bryant's 
book above mentioned. 

(1) Tell it simply and naturally. " Think of the 
story so absorbingly and vividly that you have no room 
to think of yourself. Live it. Sink yourself in that 
mood you have summoned up and let it carry you." 
This is essential. 

(2) Tell it with directness. " The incidents should 
be told in logical sequence. Nothing is more dis- 
tressing than the cart-before-the-horse method. Brev- 
ity, close logical sequence, exclusion of foreign matter, 
unhesitant speech, — to use these is to tell a story di- 
rectly." 

(3) Tell it dramatically. That is, " not in the man- 
ner of the elocutionist, not excitably, not any of the 
things which are incompatible with simplicity and sin- 
cerity; but with a whole-hearted throwing of one's self 
into the game, which identifies one in a manner with 
the character or situation of the moment. It means 
responsively, vividly, without interposing a blank wall 
of solid self between the drama of the tale and the 
mind's eye of the audience. The dramatic quality of 
story-telling depends closely upon the clearness and 
power with which the story-teller visualizes the events 



Five Missionary Minutes 17 

and characters he describes. You must hold the image 
before the mind's eye, using your imagination to body 
forth to yourself every act, incident, and appearance. 
You must, indeed, stand at the window of your con- 
sciousness and watch what happens. This is a point 
so vital that I am tempted to put it in ornate type. 
You must see what you say!" 

(4) Tell it with zest. It is necessary to be interested 
in your story as you tell it. If you do not appreciate 
it, if it bores you, it is certain that your audience will 
also be bored. 

(5) Tell it briefly. Keep strictly to the time limit, 
usually not exceeding five minutes for any single item. 
Many of them can be given in three minutes, and some 
in two. Before you present your item to the school, 
time yourself in advance by repeating it to some mem- 
ber of your family. See if this person catches the 
point you are trying to make. 

(6) Speak distinctly and loudly enough to be heard 
easily by every one in the room, or you will have rest- 
lessness and inattention. 

(7) Avoid everything that savors of " talking down " 
to the scholars. Never address a Sunday-school as 
" children/' " my dear children," or as " little ones." 
Such phrases young people resent so strongly that they 
will not be attracted by anything the speaker may 
say. 

(8) Avoid moralizing. Above all, do not moralize or 
give a short homily. The very purpose of the incident 
will then be defeated, and the scholars will vote mis- 
sions a bore. The audience will draw its own moral 
quickly enough. There should be reliance upon the 
cooperation of the Spirit of God to secure this. " Ex- 
planations and moralizing," says Mrs. Bryant, " are 
mostly sheer clutter." 

No one should be discouraged over the idea that he is 
unable to speak effectively in public. If the sugges- 
tions above given are followed carefully and prayer- 
fully, there is no reason why any one with ordinary 
intelligence may not learn to speak before an audience 
successfully. 



18 Five Missionary Minutes 

Why the Term " Leader " is Employed 

In the suggestions accompanying the items in Part 
II, the word " Leader " has been used instead of 
" .Superintendent " for the reason that the Superintend- 
ent should not always present the missionary material. 
He should do so sometimes, but it is desirable to have 
many members of the school take part throughout the 
year. 

Leader's Suggestions 

The suggestions given for the Leader must not be 
carried out perfunctorily or mechanically, but spon- 
taneously. If he is going to give verbatim the sug- 
gestions found in the text he must not, of course, have 
the book in his hand and read them, nor should he re- 
peat them in a wooden sort of way, but he must make 
the ideas his own, and then speak spontaneously. To 
have freshness and crispness the suggestions should 
appeal with the force of originality to him, or else 
they will fall flat. Speak with fire, earnestness, and 
vigor, and there will be no doubt as to the effect pro- 
duced. 

Fresh Missionary Material 

The local missionary workers should be on the out- 
look constantly for fresh news from the mis- 
sion fields at home and abroad. This is being pub- 
lished constantly in the missionary magazines, Church 
papers, and even in the secular press. Keep the school 
in touch with current events, especially as these are 
related to the progress of the kingdom of God. Some 
items as they appear in print will require rearrange- 
ment and adaptation before presentation to the school, 
if they are to become graphic and vital. If the items 
are to grip the pupils, they must have points of con- 
tact with them. Study the different ways of presenta- 
tion given in the text in order to see how such points 
of contact are secured. 

An Example of Rearrangement 

An illustration is herewith given of two ways of pre- 
senting the same material. 



Five Missionary Minutes 19 

AN INTERESTED STUDENT IN THE PHILIPPINES 

One bright young man of twenty walks to Albay every Saturday 
afternoon, a distance of thirteen miles, to study Bible lessons with 
Mr. Brown, so that he may impart to others in the ensuing week 
the things he learns in the class. Lately he has been bringing 
others with him. He complains that two hours at a stretch is 
not long enough for him ; he wants the whole afternoon. 

Or exactly the same information might be given in 
this way: 

Leader — I wonder how many good walkers we have here in our 
school ? 

Did any of you walk as much as a mile to get here to-day ? Well, 
out in the Philippines there is a bright young fellow of twenty, who 
walks thirteen miles every Saturday afternoon— what for ? To have 
Bible study under the direction of Mr. Brown, the missionary at 
Albay. 

The newspapers reported that a New Jersey boy walked most of 
the distance from his home near Newark to the Polo Grounds in 
New York City to see one of the World Championship baseball 
games. He did it because he was interested. Now this Filipino 
young man takes his thirteen-mile walk because he is interested, 
and he does it every week. 

He has one complaint to make, however ; not that the walk is too 
long, but that the two-hour study period is too short. He wants 
the whole afternoon. 

I am sure there is good stuff in that young man, aren't you ? I 
know it, not only because he is so interested in Bible study for him- 
self; but because what he learns each week he passes on to others. 
Some of these persons are getting interested, too, and have joined 
him in his walk to Albay to study with Mr. Brown. 

An Example of Adaptation 

It will be noted that some items are capable of pres- 
entation to different grades and must then be adapted 
accordingly. Others by their very nature are suitable 
only for a single grade. 

As an example of adaptation, the same incident is 
herewith presented first for the Senior, then for the 
Junior Grade. 

Senior Presentation 

ORPHANS IN INDIA CONTRIBUTE TO HOME MISSIONS 

In the orphanage at Ratnagiri, India, a special collection was 
taken for the National Missionary Society. The orphans wanted 
very much to help in this work for their own people. The boys had 
money and gave very liberally. The girls did not have any money, 



20 Five Missionary Minutes 

but they were very anxious to give. It was suggested to them that 
perhaps God wanted them to make some sacrifice. Later they came 
and said they wanted to do without mutton for a month. They 
have mutton curry once a week, and it is their best meal. When 
asked what curry should be given them in place of it, they replied, 
" "We shall eat only rice that meal ; we want to give it all." In this 
way they gave four rupees to Home Missions. 

Junior Presentation 

WHY THE GIRLS IN INDIA GAVE UP MUTTON AND CURRY 

I wonder if anybody here likes a good dinner, when hungry ? 
Why, of course, you do. 
What are some of the things you like ? 

Note. — Get such answers as roast beef, turkey, chicken, corn, 
beans, apple pie, ice-cream, etc. ; suggesting some of these, If 
the school does not readily respond. 

In warm countries, the people like hot things to eat and highly 
seasoned food. In India, for example, one of the favorite dishes is 
rice and curry. Curry is a kind of sauce containing garlic, pepper, 
ginger, and other strong spices. 

Nov/ I want to tell you what some Christian schoolgirls in an 
orphanage at Ratnagiri, India, did when they wanted to give an 
offering to home missions. They had no money. 

Once a week they had mutton for dinner. They decided they 
would do without mutton for a month, their best meal of the whole 
week, and give the money that would thus be saved to the National 
Missionary Society of India. It was as if you or I would give up, for 
a whole month, the thing we like most at our best dinner all the 
week. 

But not only did these girls give up their mutton dinner; they 
went without their curry also and ate only rice for that meal. By 
doing this they were able to give, how much do you suppose ? Four 
rupees or one dollar and twenty-eight cents to home missions. 

Adapt Material and Presentation to Departments 

Some items, such as those dealing with the details of 
the opium curse or certain kinds of medical cases, may 
be appropriate only for adults; and others will make 
their most natural appeal only to very juvenile minds, 
such as anecdotes regarding little children and child 
life. Care must, therefore, be exercised in selecting 
items for use in the Sunday-school that regard is paid 
to the grade or grades to which they are to be presented. 



Five Missionary Minutes 21 

Items for the " Main School," where several grades 
gather, may be addressed usually to Intermediates, and 
will then be generally acceptable to the rest. Some 
variety of presentation to different grades in the 
" Main School " should be sought, however. One week 
the item may be peculiarly suitable for Juniors, an- 
other Sunday to Intermediates or Seniors. In the 
items and suggested presentations in the text in Part 
II, this has been kept in mind. The story of Santa 
Claus in Korea, for instance, page 118, is meant for 
Juniors. To them it will make a strong appeal, but 
Intermediates will prefer the story of the Stolen Bible, 
on page 73. 

Typical Presentations Offered 

It has, of course, been impossible within the limits 
of the present volume to present the endless variety 
of ways in which much of the material might be given. 
Typical ways, however, have been presented and 
abundantly illustrated. The Sunday-school worker 
with ordinary originality will therefore use much of 
the material, not only in the setting in which the par- 
ticular item may be given in the text, but in various 
other ways as well. For example, the Field Item, " A 
Dramatic Close to a Prayer Meeting," page 27, might 
be used as a Prayer Introduction. The Prayer In- 
troduction, " Repeating and Praying the Lord's 
Prayer," page 28, and the Scripture Introduction, 
" Facing Death Without Flinching/' page 29, might 
each be used as a Field Item. The Field Item, " A 
Laos Evangelist Tears His Bible in Pieces/' page 85, 
might be used in connection with a Scripture Introduc- 
tion and Psalm cxix. 97-104. 

Provide Opportunity for Expression 

Opportunity for expression of interest aroused 
through the missionary impression should be ade- 
quately provided for. The purpose of telling the mis- 
sionary items and incidents that follow is not merely 
to stir an emotion, provoke a smile, or arouse a tem- 
porary interest. The aim is rather to secure a right 
attitude of mind toward, and a wise guidance of activ- 
ity for missions both home and foreign. 



Part II 

MATERIAL FOR FIFTY-TWO SUNDAYS 

ARRANGEMENT OF THE MATERIAL 

Method of Treatment 

In the following outline of topics for Fifty-two Sun- 
days, both Home and Foreign Missions are impartially 
treated. If more Foreign Mission material is used than 
Home, it is not because any distinction is drawn be- 
tween these two phases of the work. The geographical 
extent of foreign missions being so much larger than 
that of home missions, more space is required to give 
any fair representation of the work abroad carried on 
by the various denominations. The purpose through- 
out has been to make a missionary, not a home mission- 
ary nor a foreign missionary impression. 

The limits of the Fifty-two topics of Five Mis- 
sionary Minutes do not permit the mention of all mis- 
sion fields, but the following subjects at home and 
abroad are treated: 

Alaska, Canada, Immigrants, Indians, Labrador, 
Mountaineers, New Mexico, Negroes, North American 
Frontier, Porto Rico; Africa, Brazil, China, India, 
Japan, Korea, Laos, Syria. 

If some country is mentioned in which your denom- 
ination is not at work, do not hesitate to use the item, 
as we should train the Sunday-school to a broader in- 
terest than the denominational. 

In the arrangement of material, care has been taken 
to present in each quarter a temperance item,* a field 
letter, a book announcement, and a reference to some 
form of practical Christian activity or service in which 
the members of the school should engage. The remain- 

* See note on page 25. 
22 



Five Missionary Minutes 23 

ing Sundays of each quarter present the various topics 
mentioned in the Index, the aim being to balance well 
the arrangement of material from the various home 
and foreign fields, and also to offer variety of presenta- 
tion from week to week. 

Any rearrangement of the topics may be made to 
suit local needs, but when doing so, care should be 
taken to balance the material properly, and to secure 
variety of presentation. 

In Part III will be found material for the following 
Special Days and Occasions: New Year, Easter, Chil- 
dren's Day, a National Day (July First for Canada, 
July Fourth for United States), World's Temperance 
Sunday, Thanksgiving, World's Peace Sunday, 
Christmas. 

Missions and Character 

From the standpoint of the Sunday-school, the value 
of the missionary material presented in the following 
pages must lie in its contribution to the development 
of Christian character. The items should not be in- 
troduced simply because they may be interesting, or 
even because they are missionary, but rather because 
they are the kind of missionary material that con- 
tributes to character development by meeting the needs 
of the pupil at the varying stages of his growth. On 
the other hand, it must be kept in mind that character 
development is quite impossible apart from personal 
service for others, which is only another term for mis- 
sionary endeavor. The Sunday-school pupil must 
necessarily be trained to engage in personal service for 
his fellow men, and missionary instruction provides in 
large measure the impulse for such service. Mission- 
ary education, therefore, becomes essential in the Sun- 
day-school curriculum. 

Adapt Material to Needs 

The person who presents any of the items in the fol- 
lowing pages should keep clearly in mind the needs 
of certain pupils and study how best the item may be 
adapted to the recognized needs of a particular grade 
or grades. 



24 Five Missionary Minutes 

For example, the Scripture Introduction on the First 
Sunday, " The Verses that Led to Neesima's Conver- 
sion/' has value because it finds a point of contact 
in the life of the average Intermediate pupil, who is 
face to face with the great question of his own con- 
version. The courage of Dr. Lewis in fighting the 
dreaded pneumonic plague, recounted on the fourth 
Sunday, is a fine example of heroism not only for 
Juniors, but for the entire school. The value to the 
Sunday-school session in the statements of the Student 
Volunteers given on the eleventh Sunday lies in the 
appeal to Seniors, who are facing the problem of what 
to do with their own lives. 

Cultural Value the Test 

It is at once evident, therefore, that such material as 
Five Missionary Minutes presents is useful, not 
merely as a collection of missionary items, but because 
the items have cultural value and make an appeal to 
the natural interests of growing Sunday-school pupils 
and contribute to the development of their character. 
Only on this ground has such a book a rightful place 
in the Sunday-school, however useful it might be out- 
side. But from the standpoint of character develop- 
ment it becomes a necessity. 



PRESENTATION OF THE MATERIAL 
FIRST QUARTER* 

FIRST SUNDAY 

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION 

THE VEESES THAT LED TO NEESIMA'S CON- 
VERSION 

Scripture Lesson : Genesis i. 1 ; John iii. 16. 

Instead of referring to our Bibles for our Scripture 
lesson to-day, I wish that we might repeat together 
from memory two verses — one from the Old Testament 
and the other from the New. There is a story con- 
nected with them. 

In 1843 there was born in Japan a boy by the name 
of Neesima.f This was ten years before Commodore 
Perry opened up Japan to trade with the out- 
side world. When Neesima was born, the Japanese 
had nothing to do with foreigners. It was a capital 
crime for a Japanese to leave his own country. Nee- 
sima, however, had a great aim. It was to acquire West- 
ern learning, and so he made his way to one of the 
ports, Hakodate, where he hoped he might board an 
English or American boat and so escape to America. 

He longed not only for Western learning, but for 
knowledge of God, because he had lost faith in his 
family gods which stood on the shelf in his home. He 
noticed that they never touched the food that was 
placed before them. One day he got hold of a Bible 
in the Chinese language and was greatly struck by the 
first verse of the first chapter of Genesis. 

* Note.— As no Temperance item is classified under this Quarter, one 
will be found in Part III, World's Temperance Sunday, 
t Pronounce, Nee'-si-ma. 

25 



26 Five Missionary Minutes 

Let us repeat it together. 

"In the beginning God created the heavens 
and the earth." 

This statement answered some of the questions that 
had been in Neesima's mind. God was the creator, 
and from that time on he used to pray, "Please let me 
reach my aim." 

On reaching Hakodate, he made arrangements with 
the captain of an American schooner for passage to 
Shanghai. He ran a great risk, for if detected it meant 
certain death. God, however, watched over him and 
enabled him to escape. This was on July 18, 1864. 
After he reached Shanghai, ISFeesima found another 
American vessel, the Wild Rover, bound for Boston, 
and persuaded the captain to employ him as his per- 
sonal servant. It was a year before the schooner 
reached its destination. 

While they were in Hongkong, Neesima discovered 
a Chinese New Testament in a bookstore, and he deter- 
mined to have it. He had no money, so he decided to 
part with his sword which he always wore. He read 
the book day and night and found in it answers to many 
questions which had perplexed his mind. 

The verse we have already repeated and John iii. 16 
were the two that led Neesima to become a Christian. 

Let us repeat together these two verses. 

" In the beginning God created the heavens 
and the earth." 

" For God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on 
him should not perish, but have eternal life." 

Adapted from Hardy, Life and Letters of Joseph Hardy 
Neesima. 



Five Missionary Minutes 27 

SECOND SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

A DEAMATIC CLOSE TO A PEAYEK MEETING 

I want you to see some word-pictures. One is of a 
band of Assiniboin * Indians meeting in a large wig- 
wam in the Saskatchewan f country, in Canada, at the 
foot of the Eocky Mountains. Some years before, a 
missionary named Eundle had brought to them the 
gospel, but as he was compelled to return to England 
they had had no missionary teacher for some years. 
These Indians, however, had cherished what they had 
been taught, and as we look upon them in the wigwam, 
they are holding a prayer-meeting. 

Another picture shows us Henry Steinhauer, a mis- 
sionary, on his way to these very Indians. For ten 
weeks he has been traveling to reach them, and when 
the hour for camping for the night draws near, he still 
has several miles to travel to the village. He is so 
anxious, however, to reach the Indians that he keeps 
on his way and reaches their village just as they are 
holding their prayer service in the big wigwam. 

As he approaches the wigwam, he hears singing, 
and is surprised, because he had expected to hear the 
droning of the Indian medicine-men or conjurers. In- 
stead, it is a Christian hymn. He can hardly believe 
his ears. 

He draws near to listen, and after the hymn he hears 
prayers of thanksgiving, and then this petition : 

"Lord, send us another missionary like Rundle. Lord, send us a 
missionary to teach us out of thy Word more about thyself and 
thy Son, Jesus." 

During the prayer, Mr. Steinhauer lifts the tanned 
leather door of the wigwam, enters, and bows down on 
his knees with the Indians. When they arise, he tells 
them who he is and that he has come to be their mis- 
sionary. They are overjoyed, and welcome him with 
shouts and tears of gladness, as though he had just 

* Pronounce, As-sin'-i-boin. f Pronounce, Sas-katch'-e-wan. 



28 Five Missionary Minutes 

come down from heaven to dwell among them in answer 
to their prayer. 

Adapted from Young, The Apostle of the North, James 
Evans. 

THIRD SUNDAY 

PRAYER INTRODUCTION 

EEPEATING AND PEAYING THE LOED'S 
PEAYEE 

The native supervising principal of schools of a very- 
important district in Porto Eico is now an earnest 
Christian man. The Bible is studied daily in his 
home at the family altar, and he is exerting a wide in- 
fluence for Christ. 

It was through hearing the Lord's Prayer reverently 
prayed in English, and not just repeated, in the San 
Juan High School one morning, before the scholars be- 
gan the work of the day, that he realized the truths this 
prayer contains, and was thus led step by step to be- 
come a Christian. 

Having been brought up in the Eoman Catholic 
Church as a boy, he had memorized the Lord's Prayer, 
the Creed, and the Church doctrines in Spanish, but 
they were never explained to him, and they brought no 
spiritual teaching. As he grew older, he drifted off 
into doubt and unbelief. 

After being aroused to the truth of a personal God 
and that he himself was an immortal soul, through 
hearing the Lord's Prayer really prayed, he visited the 
Protestant church and Sunday-school, became further 
interested, and began to study the Bible. He soon ac- 
cepted Christ, and his heart is now filled with a great 
longing to be used for the salvation of his fellow Porto 
Eicans. 

As we unite in the Lord's Prayer to-day, may we 
not just repeat it, but really pray it. And then will 

Mr continue for a moment, leading us, and 

asking God's blessing upon the schools in Porto Eico? 

Adapted from leaflet, " Finding the Truth in Porto Rico." 



Five Missionary Minutes 29 

FOURTH SUNDAY 

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION 

FACING DEATH WITHOUT FLINCHING 

Scripture Lesson : Psalm xci. 

Before we read together for our Scripture lesson to- 
day the ninety-first Psalm, I want to tell you an in- 
cident from China which should give to the Psalm new 
meaning. 

In the early part of 1911 the terrible pneumonic 
plague was raging in China. Dr. Charles Lewis of 
Paotingfu with other helpers was engaged in fighting 
it. This is what he says : 

Note. — It is suggested that the following three paragraphs 
be read : 

I think all of our Christians, both foreign and native, have done 
everything they could to help in this time of the people's needs, and 
all has been done that could be done to stop the tide of this pesti- 
lence. 

Thrown right into contact with such a deadly thing as this, 
makes one keep close to God, and it has caused me, besides observ- 
ing every one of his laws I knew of disinfection, also to commit to 
memory the 91st Psalm, which I have said over to myself many 
times a day, and it gives confidence, where I think fear would have 
come without it. 

I cannot say now, of course, that I am not infected and will not 
know for some days after I get back home that I am not, but my 
heart is at peace, for I am confident that I am doing my duty and am 
where he wants me just now. 

We are glad to say that Dr. Lewis was not stricken 
and that he was able to go back to his work in the hos- 
pital at Paotingfu. There are thousands of other 
men and women just as brave in danger, just as true 
and loyal, just as Christlike as he. Are you not glad 
that we can have a share in supporting the work of 
such missionaries ? 

Now let us read together this Psalm which brought 
comfort to Dr. Lewis, the ninety-first. 

Adapted from a letter of Dr. Charles Lewis. 



30 Five Missionary Minutes 

FIFTH SUNDAY 

HYMN INTRODUCTION 

ALL HAIL THE POWEE OF JESUS' NAME 

TUNE, MILES LANE 

George Grenfell was a missionary explorer on the 
Kongo in Afriea from 1875 to 1906. One time while 
traveling along the Lomami River, one of the trib- 
utaries of the Kongo, at several of the landing-places 
he was welcomed by a choir of pupils from the mission 
schools with their teachers singing to the tune, Miles 
Lane, a translation of " All hail the power of Jesus' 
name." 

The strains of the music floated across the water be- 
fore the engines of the little vessel had stopped. As 
Grenfell listened, his heart was filled with gratitude to 
God, that these native Africans redeemed by Christ 
were now singing " Crown Him Lord of all." Grenfell 
knew what scenes of cruelty had been enacted on the 
banks of this very river before the gospel light had 
come. He had himself seen there the devastation and 
the smoking ruins left by the Arab slave-traders. But 
now better days had come. 

Do you wonder that the missionary, thrilled with 
emotion, joined with these converted Africans in sing- 
ing that wonderful coronation hymn? 

Let us imagine ourselves in Grenfell's company in 
the heart of Africa to-day, and stirred as was he, let 
our song of praise to Christ ring out " Crown Him 
Lord of all." 

Adapted from Hawker, The Life of George Grenfell. 

SIXTH SUNDAY 

FIELD ITEM 

TREATING DYSPEPSIA IN KOREA 

Leader — I wonder if any of you here to-day have ever 
had dyspepsia? Have you? 

Yes, I see some have. 
Well, it makes you quite uncomfortable. 



Five Missionary Minutes 31 

A man in Korea had a bad case of it. A friend 
thought he could help him. So he got a reed two and 
a half feet long, tied a swab on the end of it, and 
then told the dyspeptic to open his mouth. He did so, 
and the friend inserted the reed, and pushed it down 
his throat in order to press the food past the sticking- 
point. 

Unfortunately, the reed broke off and left ten and 
a half inches of it and the swab in the man's stomach. 
After five days of suffering he was brought in on a 
chair to the mission hospital at Taiku. He could 
neither eat nor drink, and lay in a semi-conscious con- 
dition most of the time. The doctor gave him chloro- 
form and opened the abdomen. The piece of reed with 
swab attached was found in the stomach. It was ex- 
tracted and the patient made a fine recovery. 

What if there had been no missionary hospital ! 
Adapted from a letter of Dr. Woodbridge O. Johnson. 

SEVENTH SUNDAY 

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION 

A COMMAND AND A PKOMISE 

Scripture Lesson: Matthew xxviii. 19, 20. 

There are just two verses that I want you to consider 
for our Scripture lesson to-day, and I wish that we 
might all learn them if we do not know them already. 
One is a command and the other is a promise, and they 
are found side by side, in our Bibles. In fact you can- 
not separate them, for the promise can only be claimed 
if the command is obeyed. 

Before we turn to these verses in our Bibles, I want 
to tell you a story. 

David Livingstone was one of the greatest mis- 
sionaries of the nineteenth century. He gave his life 
to Africa, and spent much of his time exploring in an 
attempt to find a suitable way from the coast to the 
interior, so that lawful commerce and a chain of mis- 
sion stations might be established. 

On his way to the East coast he came into a region 
where the Loangwa and Zambezi Kivers join, that was 



32 Five Missionary Minutes 

inhabited by very hostile natives. The chief refused to 
permit him to continue his journey, and yet it was ab- 
solutely necessary that Livingstone should go on. He 
was in great distress of mind, as he feared that all his 
plans to benefit that great region might be ended by 
these savages. 

His solace was in prayer, and in the two verses that 
we shall take as our Scripture lesson to-day, Matthew 
xxviii. 19 and 20. 

(Verse 18) " All authority hath been given unto me in heaven 
and on earth. 

(Verse 19) " Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the 
nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son 
and of the Holy Spirit. 

(Verse 20) "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
commanded you ; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end 
of the world. >' 

" It is the word of a gentleman of the most sacred 
and strictest honor, and there is an end on't," wrote 
Livingstone in his journal, January 14, 1856. 

The next day he and his caravan were allowed to 
proceed. 

Leader — To whom does authority belong, as declared 
in this passage? 

To Christ. 

How much authority or power? 

" All authority in heaven and on earth." 

In view of this, what is the command to Christ's fol- 
lowers ? 

" Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all 
the nations, baptizing them into the name of the 
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 

Had David Livingstone obeyed this command? 
Yes. 

Had he any right, then, to claim the promise? 
Yes. 



Five Missionary Minutes 33 

What is that promise? 

"Lo, I am with you always, even unto the 
end of the world." 

Adapted from Blaikie, The Personal Life of David Liv- 
ingstone. 



EIGHTH SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

AN INDIAN DEFENDS THE BIBLE 

Some years ago when Mormon missionaries went 
to the Province of Ontario in Canada, with the object 
of making converts, they held a meeting in which they 
belittled the Bible and told how the book of Mormon 
had been dug up out of the ground by Joseph Smith, 
and was a revelation from God much superior to the 
Bible. After the Mormon missionary finished, he asked 
if any one desired to make any remarks. As no white 
man arose to defend the Bible, John Sunday, a con- 
verted Indian, rose and said: 

A great many winters ago, the Great Spirit gave his good Book 
the Bible, to the white man over the great waters. He took it and 
read it, and it made his heart all over glad. By and by white man 
came over to this country, and brought the good Book with him. 
He gave it to poor Indian. He hear it, and understand it, and it 
make his heart very glad too. But when the Great Spirit gave his 
good Book to the white man, the evil spirit, the Muche-Manito, try 
to make a book too, and he try to make it like the Great Spirit made 
his, but he could not, and then he got so ashamed of it, that he go in 
the woods, and dig a hole in the ground, and there he hide his book. 
After lying there for many winters, Joe Smith go and dig it up. This 
is the book this preacher has been talking about. I hold fast to the 
good old Bible, which has made my heart so happy. I will have 
nothing to do with the devil's book. 

This quaint speech ended that Mormon's career in 
that neighborhood. 

From Young, The Apostle of the North, James Evans. 



34 Five Missionary Minutes 

NINTH SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

HOW AN AFEICAN WITCH DOCTOR WAS PUT 
OUT OF BUSINESS 

In equatorial Africa an operation for appendicitis 
was performed in a cannibal village under very dra- 
matic circumstances. The village had never been vis- 
ited by a missionary before, but the fame of the 
medical healer, Dr. Dye, had gone before him, and 
the missionary found the natives very much excited 
upon his arrival. They brought to him a man who was 
very ill. On examination the doctor found that he 
was suffering from appendicitis. He told the natives 
that an operation would be necessary and described to 
them what he should do. They were wonder-struck at 
the suggestion of cutting open the sick man's body, 
but, since they thought the patient would die anyway, 
they were willing. 

Dr. Dye arranged an improvised operating-table in 
a little hollow, and the people gathered by hundreds on 
the sides of the ravine to watch him. He gave the an- 
esthetic, and, as the man passed into unconsciousness, 
the people all raised a shout, " The man is dead." Then 
they watched the skilful physician as he made the in- 
cision, removed the appendix, and sewed up the wound. 
Then a murmur passed around through the crowd, " He 
has killed the man, cut him open, taken his insides out, 
and sewed him up. Now can he bring him back to 
life?" 

In a few moments, sure enough, the patient revived, 
opened his eyes, and looked around. The natives were 
wonderfully excited. To them it was a miracle, indeed. 
They sent messengers everywhere proclaiming, " Come 
and hear the message of the white man, for he speaks 
with authority. He has killed a man, cut him open, 
removed his insides, sewed him up again, and brought 
him back to life." 

Dr. Dye relates that that operation overthrew the 



Five Missionary Minutes 35 

power of the native witch-doctor and enabled him to 
plant a church in that village. 

From Missionary Programs of the Foreign Christian 
Missionary Society. 

TENTH SUNDAY 

PRAYER INTRODUCTION 

THE LORD'S PRAYER AMENDED 

Note. — It is suggested that before the school opens, the 
Lord's Prayer be copied on the blackboard in large letters, in 
view of the whole school. Then as the Leader talks and asks 
the school what part of it should be crossed out and changed 
by the person who does not believe in Missions, he will make 
the changes indicated below. If the words crossed out are 
then erased, it will be graphically evident how little is left 
of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples. 

The Lord's Prayer Amended 

For the use of the man who doesn't believe in Mission*, 

°®ut Father Who art in Heaven, 
TJaHowed^be.Thy "Name. 
*Thy.T£hTgdem v&hmu 
'Th^lViU.i^'a^m^rm.'Eartk, 

Give "os- this clay -mat daily bread. 
And forgive *i*s.*mw0 debts, 



Ttett^f&rgii^WHL'cfebtors. 

And lead •»«. not into temptation, 

But deliver ^a^ from evil: 

^FW7%rfH^s^r^^ 
, 7th*L*the-' puuMu c, 
\'ArHL*he.'gle*& 

iToTwez. Amen. t 

Adapted from Handbook on Foreign Missions, 1911, 
United Presbyterian Church of North America. 



36 Five Missionary Minutes 

Another effective way to use the material: 

Leader — We have on the blackboard a new rendering of 
the Lord's Prayer. Let us read it over together as 
amended by the person who does not believe in mis- 
sions. 
Does anybody in the school like it? 

(Get answers of " No " from the scholars.) 

What is the matter with it, as it stands ? 

(Get answers, "It is incomplete, mutilated, 
unsatisfactory. It is not our Lord's Prayer as 
he gave it. It is a selfish prayer, with no men- 
tion of the Kingdom." 

Leader — Because it is not our Lord's Prayer, we can- 
not use it. But let us all join in praying to-day 
the prayer as our Lord taught us. 

ELEVENTH SUNDAY 

RECRUITING FOR SERVICE BY A HYMN 
INTRODUCTION 

SPEED AWAY, SPEED AWAY ON YOUK MIS- 
SION OF LIGHT 

Leader — At the Rochester Convention of the Student 
Volunteer Movement, held in January, 1910, there were 
assembled about two thousand of the choicest young 
men and women from the colleges of North America. 
They had come together to consider the whole question 
of the relation of the students of our colleges and uni- 
versities to the problem of world evangelization in our 
day and generation. 

In one of the closing meetings of the convention the 
platform was filled with young men and young women 
who within a year planned to go out to the mission 
fields. They were asked to tell in a few words to what 
country they were going and why. 

I have asked a number of the young people of our 



Five Missionary Minutes 37 

Sunday-school to give to you to-day some of their an- 
swers. 

Note. — These should he copied and given out the week he- 
fore. The young people who take part will now rise and in 
rapid succession each read the following sentences. 

I have but one life to invest, and I feel that God has 
called me to North China. 

I am going to South America to publish the tidings 
that needy and dying men may know our Christ. 

I go to Japan. I was born in the barracks, and I 
am going to take my father's work. 

China. Because I want my life to tell in a place 
where He is unknown. 

The gift of a life is my only answer as a Christian 
to the tremendous need in India. 

God has called me to Alaska, and I must obey. 

I hope that I may have the privilege of bringing the 
gospel to my sisters in India, because of the crying 
need. 

Foochow, China. Because there are hundreds of 
women and girls there whom I may serve and who are 
hungering and thirsting for the unchanging Christ, 
whom I know. Before God, I cannot stay in this coun- 
try and face the future eternities. 

Anywhere He sends, because I found I could not pray 
for missions and not go in answer to my prayer. 

Punjab, India. Because of the irresistible cry. 

India. Because He has called me, and I feel that 
my life will not count for the most unless I follow 
His vision and call. 

South Africa. Because I have the opportunity and 
it is the greatest opportunity a man can have to go. 

Where He wills. For God so loved the world. 

Wherever there is opportunity and need, because I 
have something somebodv somewhere wants. 



38 Five Missionary Minutes 

Foreign Field. Because His love will not let me stay 
at home. 

The field into which He leads, to tell of my Savior 
and His love for those who know Him not. 

Whither Christ shall lead. Because He says, " Go." 

Quotations from Students and the Present Missionary 
Crisis. The Report of the Rochester Student Volun- 
teer Convention. 

Leader — At the close of these testimonies in 
Rochester there was sung that wonderful missionary 
hymn, " Speed away, speed away on your mission of 
light," and every heart was moved. 

Note. : — It will be very impressive to have some one sing this 
hymn as a solo or else have a quartet sing the hymn. If this 
is not possible, the entire school may join in singing the hymn. 
If " Speed Away " is not available, " Ye Christian heralds go 
proclaim," or the consecration hymn, " It may not be on the 
mountain's height," may be used. 

TWELFTH SUNDAY 
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT 

THE DAYS OF JUNE* 

BY MARY CULLER WHITE 

Great souls sometimes dwell in frail bodies. Such a 
soul was June Nicholson, a Southern girl of finest 
type. At first her name was Jane, but her sunny dis- 
position as a baby won for her the name of June, and 
by this name she was ever afterward called. 

Early in life she got hold of a big idea. Kesolving 
to carry it out, she was on her way one day from her 
South Carolina home to Kansas City. She had to 
change cars at Atlanta, and when she reached there 
such a feeling of homesickness overcame her she sold 
her ticket and prepared to return home. But her trunk 
had to be gotten off the train, and for this she went 
to the baggage-master. 

* Published by Fleming EL Revell Company, New York. Price, 
50 cents, net. A book suitable for Senior readers. 



Five Missionary Minutes 39 

" My trunk is checked' for Kansas City," she said ; 
" but I am not going, and I want to get it off." 

" Surrender your ticket," was the businesslike reply, 
" and you can get your trunk." 

" I can't," she said, " for 1 have sold it. But I must 
have my trunk. Won't you please get it off ? " Un- 
wittingly the depth of her feeling was showing itself 
in her voice. 

" Why aren't you going where you started ? " said 
the man, evidently touched. 

" Because I am homesick," she blurted out. 

" Well," said the man, " if that is the case I guess 
I will have to let you have your trunk. It's against the 
rules and I ought not to do it, but if you are homesick — 
that's a different matter." 

But he knew not with whom he was dealing. The 
would-be missionary had recovered herself. 

" No, you won't," she said. " I'll not let you do for 
me anything you ought not to do. I'll go and buy 
back my ticket and go on to Kansas City." 

And she did. 

She had other struggles to face after this, many of 
them, but she won out, and the story of her life victory 
makes one feel that here was a girl who proved herself 
a real heroine. 

You can read the brief sketch of her life in a couple 
of hours, and you will be well repaid for the time thus 
spent in getting acquainted with a very human but 
very noble girl. The book is charmingly written in 
brief breezy chapters, so that the interest does not 
flag for a moment. It is the kind of book that every 
Senior in our school should read. 

Here it is — The Days of June, by Mary Culler White. 

(Hold the book up in view of the school.) 

Ask the Sunday-school librarian for it after Sunday- 
school. 



40 Five Missionary Minutes 

THIRTEENTH SUNDAY 
FIELD LETTER, ALASKA 

TYPICAL LETTER FROM A PRESENT-DAY 
HOME MISSIONARY 

Note.— See accompanying letter in full. Not the entire letter, but only 
extracts are presented. The method of presentation may be applied to 
other letters. Read chapter IV, of this volume. 

Leader — We are so glad to have to-day a very interest- 
ing home missionary letter from Rlukwan, Alaska. 

Miss , who is Missionary Correspondence 

Secretary, will present it to us now. 

Miss This letter is just full of interesting 

things, but there is not time to read them all. I 
must read, however, what is said about koush-da, the 
land otter. 

In October a high-caste Indian was drowned. Now drowning 
is a death the Indian fears more than anything else, as he believes 
unless his body is recovered he falls a prey to the koush-da or land 
otter, who changes him into a koush-da-ka, a land otter man. Koush- 
da keeps his captives very close so that few ever escape when once 
taken by him, so of course there is no chance of ever getting to the 
"Happy Hunting Ground." 

The friends of this young man, therefore, after consultation with 
old Yehoss, the witch-doctor, to whom they gave blankets and 
money for his advice, spent long anxious weeks and much money in 
a vain search for his body. In the meantime noises at the doors or 
windows of the houses, that otherwise would not be noticed, caused 
excitement and alarm among the people, who thought that the spirit 
of the dead, or the koush-da-ka, was seeking an entrance. 

A poor old woman living alone in a small log cabin, heard a noise 
in the ghostly hours of the night that sent her screaming through 
the village street. A careful investigation by the missionary, who 
was among the first to arrive on the scene, finally traced the noise 
to the loft, into which he ascended and found an empty coal-oil can 
from which the koush-da-ka in the form of a mouse was making fran- 
tic effort to escape. 

The missionary goes on to say that his work is to 
lead these people out of their ignorant beliefs to a 
knowledge of God and of Christ, to tell them that the 
spirit returns to God who gave it, and that there is 
life and hope and joy after death for all who believe 
in Christ. 



Five Missionary Minutes 41 

May we not all pray for the missionaries in their 
work at Klukwan? 

Note. — It is well to encourage correspondence with your own 
missionary on the field on the part of members of the school, 
and that member of the Sunday-school Missionary Committee 
in charge of " Field Correspondence " should secure such let- 
ters from officers, teachers, and scholars. It should be fully 
understood that the missionary cannot be expected to send 
individual replies, but a joint letter to the school. 



Copy of letter from Mr. Falconer, from which 
adaptation has been made. 

Klukwan, Alaska, December 1, 19 . . . 

Dear Miss : 

I am reminded of my note on the outside of your letter of 
October 5, that it is time to get a letter started on its long 
trip East, if y.ou are to receive it by the middle of the month. 

I wonder how many of the young people in the States believe 
In witches, witch-doctors, or something perhaps more civilized, 
in ghosts. Most of our people believe in all three of the above ; 
I think all of them believe in one or more, especially the latter. 
In October a high-caste Indian was drowned. Now drowning 
is a death the Indian fears more than anything else, as he 
believes unless his body is recovered, he falls a prey to the 
koush-da or land otter, who changes him into a koush-da-ka, 
a land otter man. Koush-da keeps his captives very close so 
that few ever escape when once taken by him, so of course 
there is no chance of ever getting to the " Happy Hunting 
Ground." 

The friends of this young man, therefore, after consultation 
with old Yehoss, the witch-doctor, to whom they gave blankets 
and money for his advice, spent long anxious weeks and much 
money in a vain search for his body. In the meantime noises 
at the doors or windows of the houses, that otherwise would 
not be noticed, caused excitement and alarm among the people, 
who thought that the spirit of the dead, or the koush-da-ka, 
was seeking an entrance. 

A poor old woman living alone in a small log cabin, heard 
a noise in the ghostly hours of the night that sent her 
screaming through the village street. A careful investigation 
by the missionary, who was among the first to arrive on the 
scene, finally traced the noise to the loft, into which he 
ascended and found an empty coal-oil can, from which the 



42 Five Missionary Minutes 

koush-da-ka in the form of a mouse was making frantic efforts 
to escape. 

Our work is to teach the people that the sting of death is 
sin, over which we may have the victory through Jesus Christ ; 
that the spirit returns to God who gave it ; and that on the 
great resurrection morning, when the dead in Christ shall 
rise, it will matter not how they have died or where they have 
slept, as even the sea will give up the dead which are in it. 

The worst siege of sickness in seven years, with no doctor 
within reach, is making our work unusually hard this winter. 
Three have already died, while others are not yet out of 
danger. We trust these times of sorrow and affliction will but 
lead us closer to him who loved us and gave himself for us. 

The missionary's wife bears her part of the burden bravely. 
In addition to her usual household duties and the care of a 
sick husband, a short time ago, she conducted a funeral service 
on Saturday ; the Sunday-school and evening service on Sun- 
day ; and another funeral service on Monday. 

We are glad to know you are interested in our work. Ear- 
nestly pray, dear friends, that the trials of these weeks may 
work together for our good, and that the light of the gospel 
of Christ may soon shine in many hearts here, as it does now 
in a few. 

Yours in his service, 

Fred R. Falconer. 



SECOND QUARTER 

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

THE COOKING STOVE IN DAVY'S HEAD 

A young boy applied for admission to a college in 
the South. He had been prepared by a former stu- 
dent, and was able to enter the freshman class. He 
brought with him a supply of provisions, rented a 
room, and did his own cooking. For months he worked 
and studied, making rapid progress. One day the 
president met him and found that he was greatly 
distressed. 

As soon as he could control himself, he said, " I must 
go home; it is time to be at work with the crop, it has 
rained so much, and I am needed." 

The president reasoned with him, and tried to show 
him the folly of giving up his studies at that time. 

He broke down completely, and, sobbing as if his 
heart were broken, said : " I can't study ; when I take 
up my book, I see on every page my mother with a hoe 
in her hand, working like a slave to keep me in school. 
I'd rather not be educated than be compelled to look at 
that picture." 

In all probability the boy had written home, stating 
that he expected to leave college that day, for at this 
juncture his mother appeared. 

Mother-fashion she drew him into her arms, and said, 
" Davy, my boy, would you break mammy's heart ? 
Stay! Mammy will work for her baby, and will never 
stop until you say, ' Mammy, here is my 'ploma.' " 

A friend called to see the parents of Dave at their 
43 



44 Five Missionary Minutes 

humble mountain home. It was the month of July, 
and the mother was cooking at the fireplace. 

" Mrs. Green, you ought to have a cooking-stove/' 
was the comment of the visitor. 

" I had one, but I put it in Davy's head," was the 
only reply. 

That mother had sold the stove in order to keep 
her boy at school. She cannot read, but she was deter- 
mined that her boy should have an education. At his 
graduation she was happier than a queen, for she saw 
her boy receive his diploma, and also carry off second 
honors in his class. 

I think that it must somewhere be written, " Blessed 
are the mothers who make a way for their boys to 
ascend, for their reward is great both here and here- 
after." 

Adapted from Guernsey, Under our Flag. 



FIFTEENTH SUNDAY 

FIRST OF FOUR CONSECUTIVE PRESENTATIONS 
ON GIVING 

HOW THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS GIVE- 
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM AFRICA, ALASKA, 
AND CHINA 

Leader — We have spent some months in presenting 
missionary information to our school in various ways, 
from Sunday to Sunday. Because of this increased 
knowledge of the work at home and abroad our interest 
is deepening. This interest, we trust, will express it- 
self very definitely in the giving of money, of service, 
and of life to the cause of extending Christ's kingdom 
— that is, Missions. 

For the next few Sundays, therefore, we shall con- 
sider briefly this question of giving. To-day and next 
Sunday, several members of our school will give in- 
cidents fresh from the mission field, telling how the 
native Christians in various lands give. You will see 
that they set us a high standard and call us to real 



Five Missionary Minutes 45 

sacrifice, if we follow their example. We shall first 
hear two messages from Africa which are in the words 
of the missionaries themselves. 

Note. — It is suggested that the following items he given by 
different members of the school in quick succession, rising in 
their classes and speaking clearly and distinctly. If desired, 
all may in advance come to the platform and from there 
rapidly present their items. If time does not permit the use of 
all the items, selections may be made in advance. The items 
should be copied from this book and given a week in advance 
to those who will present them. Some of the brief items may 
be read, those in story form should be told. 

First Pupil — I have seen a woman give the food 
she needed to eat. 

F have seen a schoolboy give the only dish he pos- 
sessed. 

One of our Christian women worries, not for lack 
of necessities for herself, but her anxiety is great if 
she has not her pledged contribution.* 

Second Pupil — At a morning offering not long ago 
a congregation gave fifty-six dollars. Persons have 
taken off ornaments from hair, neck, wrist, ankles, and 
cast them into the contribution baskets. Young men 
have given one tenth of their modest monthly incomes, 
and poor widows their mites. When I have asked na- 
tives if they really believed that it is more blessed to 
give than to receive, they have said, " Yes," and " We 
used to think, before we knew God, that it was more 
blessed to receive than to give, but we feel the other 
way now." f 

Leader — We shall now hear from Alaska. 

Third Pupil — When Kotseek, the Chilcat, was young, 
his tribe went to war with others. A cap was 
made by his wife from the skin of a mountain goat 
with a small tuft of eagle feathers, thus representing 
strength and swiftness. A shirt representing the Ra- 
ven, the emblem of this tribe, was made, and the blanket 

* Reported by Mrs. C. W. McCleary of Batanga, Kamerun, 
West Africa. 

t Reported by the Rev. Melvin Fraser, also of Batanga, 
Kamerun, West Africa. 



46 Five Missionary Minutes 

and trimming, which were secured in exchange for ten 
marten skins. After this war, another broke out be- 
tween the Raven and Whale Clans. According to cus- 
tom, this war must continue until both sides had suf- 
fered equally in dead and wounded. Kotseek was 
severely wounded, and deformed for the rest of his 
life; but because the Whale Clan had suffered a loss 
which required the death of a Eaven before peace could 
be restored, Kotseek offered himself for the sacrifice. 
The warrior's costume was again brought out, and with 
this and the cap on his head he went out to die; but 
God's hand protected him, and later he learned of the 
love of Jesus. 

Recently he decided to part with these things which 
were so precious to him, and offered them to the mis- 
sionary to be sold that the money might be used in 
sending the gospel to others who do not know of Jesus. 
We can hardly understand this kind of a sacrifice, for 
it really meant the parting with the last connections 
with his old life, and giving up the custom of years, — 
that of having all of these relics buried with the 



Leader — Now we shall hear three messages from 
China. 

Fourth Pupil — An old woman who has to make her 
own living and earns but one dollar per month above 
her board gives two dollars a year to the Lord's work, 
and is generally the first to pay up. 

Many Christians refuse good situations and work 
for less salary, simply because the paying position 
would hinder their religious life, f 

Fifth Pupil — The poor boys of Peking University 
take their breakfast later on Sunday and their supper 
earlier, giving the money that should go for their din- 
ner into the Sunday collections. I have known many 
of the boys to give their dinners for a month, others 

* From an Alaskan Field Letter from the Rev. Fred R. 
Falconer. 

t Reported by the Rev. J. E. Shoemaker of Yu-Yaio, China. 



Five Missionary Minutes 47 

who gave their dinners for two weeks to the missionary 
collection. 

An old woman who mended the clothes of the stu- 
dents, getting fifty cents a month for it, gave one 
month's wages for the missionary collection. 

When the Chinese Christians of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church were asked by Bishop Bashford to 
subscribe on an average of one dollar Mexican each, for 
a thank offering, they subscribed on an average of one 
dollar gold, — twice what they were asked.* 

Sixth Pupil — For the year 1907 the native Chris- 
tians of the Ko-Chau field averaged two dollars and 
ninety-eight cents per member for the gospel. This is 
equivalent to a man's board for one month. 

Lau Taat-sam, an elder of the Shui-Tung church, 
leaves his business and gives ten days or more every 
quarter to itineration with me on church session work 
at his own expense. 

Ching Mong-cho saved enough in California to re- 
turn to Canton and pay his way through the theological 
course. He is to-day preaching for the equivalent of 
four dollars and fifty cents United States currency per 
month.t 

Leader — Next Sunday we shall have some further 
testimony from other lands. 

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY 

SECOND OF FOUR CONSECUTIVE PRESENTATIONS 
ON GIVING 

HOW THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS GIVE- 
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM INDIA, LAOS, 
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINEERS IN NORTH 
AMERICA, AND FROM KOREA. 

Leader — Last Sunday we heard how some of the na- 
tive Christians in Africa, Alaska, and China give. 

* Reported by the Rev. Isaac Taylor Headland of Peking, 
China. 

t Reported by the Rev. C. E. Patton of Ko-Chau, China. 



48 Five Missionary Minutes 

To-day we are to hear from some other lands, — In- 
dia, Laos, the southern mountains in North America, 
and from Korea. If there were time, we might hear 
from other lands as well, but we are limited, and so 
these incidents must suffice. We shall hear first how 
some Hindu Christians give. 

Note. — The following items should be presented by different 
members of the school in rapid succession. They may rise in 
their places, or all coming in advance to the platform, they 
may in turn give the items from there. If time does not permit 
the use of all of the items, selections may be made in advance. 
The items should be copied, from this book and given a week 
in advance to those who will present them. Some of the brief 
items may be read ; those in story form should be told. 

First Pupil — At a missionary meeting in India one 
of the native Christians rose and said : " I have no 
money that I can give, but I have a new milch cow; I 
will spare one third of all the milk she gives until she 
goes dry, if any one will agree to take it daily, and put 
the value in money in the missionary collection." The 
milk was at once bespoken, and that cow gave milk 
well and long that year. 

A widow woman took off her choicest " toe-ring " 
(for they use them there as much as finger-rings), and 
put it in the contribution-box. It was purchased for 
half a dollar, and that sum went into the box as the 
widow's gift. * 

Leader — We shall now hear from Laos. 

Second Pupil — The Laos have been collecting money 
and second-hand clothing for Adana and Tarsus. 
About three hundred pieces or so of clothing have been 
given in this poor town of Talas. 

A cook gave her whole month's wages, though she 
was very pocr. 

A poor washerwoman, though having two depend- 
ing upon her, gave a week's wages. 

One wretchedly poor man, a hunchback with three 
dependent upon him, gave a whole day's earnings, 
which was a very large sum for him. 

* Reported by the late Jacob Chamberlain, D.D. 



Five Missionary Minutes 49 

A mother sold some flour in the home to be able to 
add her mite." 

Leader — Let us learn now what some of the girls in 
North Carolina did in order to give to missions. 

Third Pupil — One of the oldest schools under one 
of the Women's Boards of Home Missions in the 
United States is located at Asheville, North Carolina. 
It is a school for girls in the mountains of the South 
who are taught everything that will develop their Chris- 
tian womanhood. Every year there is a season of self- 
denial for the sake of some need in the foreign mis- 
sion field. The following statement from one of the 
teachers gives but a slight glimpse of the enthusiasm 
which these girls have shown for the famine relief in 
China. 

"Down in the basement (our make-believe gym- 
nasium) I have just left an enthusiastic group of girls 
putting the finishing touches on ' the quilt for China/ — 
that, at least is what it means to the quilters and to 
those who pieced the 6 nine patches/ though, of course, 
no one thinks of its actually making that long jour- 
ney; all are eager, however, to see its worth trans- 
muted into life-saving bread for the starving Chinese. 
In this enthusiasm the pieces overshot the mark, leav- 
ing a generous surplus of ' blocks/ and hence a second 
quilt is planned; nor is this the only vent given to their 
zeal. The creak of ice-cream freezer and the odor of 
taffy tell their tale of helping swell the relief fund. 
Self-denial money is coming on a generous scale, too. 
One girl, who has been penniless for weeks, begged the 
privilege of washing for a teacher this week, and gave 
the money as her contribution.' Another having com- 
pleted a tedious piece of needlework, for which she re- 
ceived a dollar, brought the whole of it; and that each 
might have a share in the giving, there was a unan- 
imous vote to go lunchless two days of the week. There 
was evident disappointment when this request was 

* Reported by Mrs. Mary Carter Dodd of Talas, Asia Minor, 
Turkey. 



50 Five Missionary Minutes 

granted only in a modified way. There is a readiness 
to do, which is touching and beautiful." * 

Leader — Elsewhere also the native Christians have 
learned the joy of giving that conies through sacri- 
fice. We shall hear now of three brothers in Korea, 
and also of some others in that land. 

Fourth Pupil — Three brothers sold their entire rice 
crop and lived for a year on millet, a low coarse food, 
that they might give it to a Korean missionary. 

Many women have given their wedding-rings, or 
have cut their hair off to sell for the cause of Christ. 

Many poor people go with one less meal a day that 
they may be able to give. 

The Chai Ryung city church, besides supporting a 
local pastor and all the local work, support a home 
missionary who costs more than their local pastor. 
They are planning to support another missionary very 
soon.t 

Fifth Pupil — Korean men have been known to 
mortgage their houses that mortgages might be re- 
moved from the houses of God, to sell their crops of 
good rice intended for family consumption, purchasing 
inferior millet to live on during the winter, and giving 
the difference in cost for the support of workers to 
preach among their own countrymen. Korean women 
have given their wedding-rings and even cut off their 
hair that it might be sold and the amount devoted to 
the spread of the gospel. $ 

Sixth Pupil — At the time the Korean Christians 
in Pyeng Yang were building Central Church, there 
was a woman in a country village who was driven out 
of her home by her husband because she was a Chris- 
tian. That was a frequent occurrence in Korea a few 
years ago. She took her two little children and came 
to Pyeng Yang. For a year she was either cared for 

* Prom a letter from Miss Montgomery of the Laura Sunder- 
land School, Concord, N. C. 

t Reported by the Rev. William B. Hunt of Chai Ryung, Korea. 
X Reported, by the Rev. George Heber Jones. 



Five Missionary Minutes 51 

in the homes of the Christians, or was given work by 
Christian Koreans so that she might support herself 
and her children. 

During the period of this woman's direst poverty, 
she had a great longing to help in the erection of Cen- 
tral Church. Week after week, as she was able, she 
laid aside one " cash " (one tenth of a cent) at a time, 
until she had saved one hundred of these coins, which 
she gave to the church. It had taken her an entire 
year to save this amount, and the total value of the 
coins was only ten cents. But the story was related 
many times, and her heroic self-sacrifice greatly en- 
couraged others to assist in the erection of the Wild- 
ing.* 

Seventh Pupil — Pai Ni-il was a Christian, the first 
one in his village. The gospel meant much to him, 
so he told it to others. Inquirers came to his house, 
the room got too small, and they needed a larger one. 
The little band of Christians won by Pai Ni-il decided 
to build a church. Everybody contributed as much as 
he possibly could, but when the building was completed, 
there hung over it a debt. This was a cause of sor- 
row to Pai Ni-il and his fellow Christians. What 
could be done? Pai Ni-il thought and prayed about 
it, and then he made a great resolve. 

One morning he was seen leaving his home for the 
market, driving his only ox with which he plowed his 
field. When he came back, Pai Ni-il was alone, but 
he had with him the price of the ox. This money he 
took and paid the debt on the church. Some weeks 
later the missionary was in the region of Pai Ni-iPs 
home. He went to the house and was told that Pai 
Ni-il was down in the field plowing. When the mis- 
sionary reached the field, he saw Pai Ni-il's old father 
with his hands upon the handles of the plow, guiding 
it. In the furrow hitched to the traces where the ox 
should have been, were Pai Ni-il and his brother. They 
were pulling the plow themselves that spring. 

It seemed to the missionary, as if hitched with them 

* From " Korea for Christ," by G. T. B. Davis. 



52 Five Missionary Minutes 

was One who years ago had been with three of his fol- 
lowers in Babylon in the fiery furnace, One like unto 
the Son of Man.* 



SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY 

THIRD OF FOUR CONSECUTIVE PRESENTATIONS 
ON GIVING 

WHY I SHOULD GIVE TO MISSIONS— SEVEN 
WORD PICTURES 

Leader — For two Sundays we have heard how the 
native Christians in various countries give — even to 
the point of sacrifice. 

To-day I want you to face another question: Why 
we should give to missions. I want you to look at a 
few pictures, word-pictures, that I trust will make it 
clear why we should invest in missions. Those pic- 
tures will be given us by different members of our 
school. The first two show the need of childhood, the 
next three the need of womanhood, and the last two 
the need for Christ's peace. 

Note.— It is suggested that some of the teachers or older members of 
the school present these items, which should be copied from this book and 
given to them a week in advance. 

First Picture 

If you should see two bright little children thrown 
out on a rubbish pile to perish, would you think it 
worth while to save them? Two such children were 
found on a rubbish heap in India by missionaries, who 
rescued them and brought them to the mission station 
and cared for them. 

Second Picture 

Two children out of every three in all the world 
look into the faces of mothers who cannot tell them 
the story of Jesus because they do not know it them- 
selves. 

Down in New Mexico, San Antonio is the patron 

* Adapted from Gale, Korea in Transition. 



Five Missionary Minutes 53 

saint in a certain town. The image of the saint is 
taken from the Roman Catholic Church and carried 
around town, crowds following to the beating of a 
drum. There is a feast which includes gambling, 
drunkenness, and a bail. In all of these even the small- 
est children have a share. 

Such conditions need remedying. We should 
give to Missions because Jesus said: " Suffer the 
little children, and forbid them not, to come 
unto me; for to such belongeth the kingdom of 
heaven." 

Third Picture 

In many Mohammedan lands women are considered 
little better than beasts, and to be without brains. 
Until the missionaries established them, there was not 
a single school for girls in the Orient. It has not been 
an uncommon sight to see a woman harnessed with a 
donkey to a plow and both driven together by a man. 

Fourth Picture 

The custom of buying wives is quite common among 
primitive people. In New Guinea one chief boasted 
proudly that his wife had cost him ten arm shells, three 
pearl shells, two strings of dogs' teeth, several hun- 
dreds of coconuts, a large number of yams, and two 
pigs. 

Fifth Picture 

About seventy-five miles from Sitka is Killisnoo, one 
of the worst native villages in southeastern Alaska. 
Here two girls, who had formerly been in the Christian 
school at Sitka, were being offered for sale at fifty dol- 
lars apiece by their mothers. 

Such conditions need remedying. We should 
give to Missions because Jesus said: " Come un- 
to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." 

Sixth Picture 

Eaymead Das was a so-called holy man in India. 
He sought peace through physical pain, and so for thir- 



54 Five Missionary Minutes 

teen years he sat upon a bed of spikes, in a vain effort 
to find it. He is just a type of thousands who are 
hungering for God in India and all over the non- 
Christian world. 

Seventh Picture 

Eastern religions are finding their way to England 
and America. In the United States and Canada 
Buddhist and Hindu temples are growing in number. 
There are also many other religious cults, the devotees 
of which are seeking to find peace. 

These conditions need remedying. We should 
give to Missions because Jesus said: "I have 
spoken unto you, that in me ye may have 
peace." " My peace I give unto you." 

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY 

FOURTH OF FOUR CONSECUTIVE PRESENTATIONS 
ON GIVING 

KINGDOM DAY— SUBSCBIPTION PLEDGES TO 
MISSIONS 

Leader — Last Sunday we had some word-pictures 
presented to us which showed " Why we should give to 
Missions." To-day, before we make pledges of what 
we will give for the coming year, we shall have some 
statements as to what the missionary dollar will do on 
the mission field. 

Note. — The following ten statements should he copied and 
given a week in advance to ten pupils who will give them in 
quick succession from the platform. 

The First Ten Cents 

will help send out new missionaries this year to preach 

the gospel. 

The Second Ten Cents 

will send our missionary boats on their errands of 

peace in the dark and needy places. 

Note. — Insert the names of the countries in which your 
Home and Foreign Missions Boards have little Mission boats or 
steamers. 



Five Missionary Minutes 55 

The Third Ten Cents 
will go to the rescue of helpless little children from 
slavery, sin, and death. 

The Fourth Ten Cents 
will help secure, build, or repair mission property. 

The Fifth Ten Cents 
will help educate a girl or boy in a Christian school. 

The Sixth Ten Cents 
will help provide the support of a native worker. 

The Seventh Ten Cents 
will help minister to the sick, providing doctors, nurses, 
and medicine ; and preach to the soul while healing the 
body. 

The Eighth Ten Cents 
will help to pay a missionary's salary. 

The Ninth Ten Cents 
will help translate and print tracts and other Christian 
literature. 

The Tenth Ten Cents* 

Three tenths of it will help send books and pictures 
and missionary boxes to needy peoples. 

Seven cents out of a dollar will collect and carry the 
other ninety-three cents to the uttermost part of the 
earth and report what they have done. 

Note. — Care must be taken not to give the impression that 
a Mission Board can or would divide up every dollar contributed 
in the manner above suggested. It is merely a general state- 
ment as to the possible phases of work to which missionaiw 
money may be applied. It makes clear that a dollar con- 
tributed to the General Fund of the Board, or on the Station 
Plan is actually supporting many different kinds of work. 

Leader — We have just heard what the missionary 
dollar will do. I think it would be splendid if every 
member of our Sunday-school could invest at least one 

* The average cost for administration expenses of the various 
mission boards is about 7 per cent; It may vary more or less. 



56 Five Missionary Minutes 

dollar a year in the cause of missions. Perhaps all 
of you do not have as much as a dollar in your pockets 
to-day, but most of you could easily secure a dollar 
and more, in fifty-two weeks. I am going to ask you, 
therefore, to take your missionary pledge cards which 
the teachers have in their hands, and to make your 
missionary pledges for the coming year. Most of us 
can set at least one dollar to work in the mission field, 
by contributing two cents a week for a year. Many 
of us can do much more than that, and I hope we 
will. Some of us can have not merely a single dollar, 
but a number of dollars working for us all the year 
at home and abroad. 

Please take the cards now and indicate how much 
you will give per week, sign your name, and give the 
card to your teacher. 

If you are not ready to sign the card to-day, take 
it home and talk it over with your parents, and bring 
back the card signed next Sunday. 

Note. — Secure pledge cards and envelopes by communication 
with your denominational Mission Boards. As these are pre- 
pared largely for use in the churches, they may need to be 
adapted for Sunday-school use locally. 

NINETEENTH SUNDAY 

RECRUITING FOR SERVICE BY A FIELD ITEM 

A GIFT OF DAYS 

Leader — Last Sunday we had an opportunity to make 
our annual pledges for benevolences. I am glad that 
so many of the members of our school are thus con- 
tributing, and I hope that all will do so. 

There is something else we can give God besides 
money. 

" I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the 
mercies of God, to present your bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is 
your spiritual service." 

In fact, God wants our hearts and our lives more 
than our money. Sometimes money is the cheapest 



Five Missionary Minutes 57 

thing we can give. Most of us bring an offering to 
Sunday-school each Sunday, but in addition to that 
God wants our personal service on Sunday and all dur- 
ing the week. 

Most of us, probably, have heard of the wonderful 
growth of the Church in Korea. The secret of it is 
that the Christians are tremendously in earnest. They 
give not only large sums of money for the spread of the 
gospel, but they engage in personal work themselves. 
It is a common thing at conferences and prayer-meet- 
ings for the Christians to pledge so many days' service. 
They go out at their own expense and testify for Christ. 
It may mean shutting up their place of business for 
days while they are gone, but they gladly make this 
sacrifice. 

At the early morning prayer-meetings which were 
held in one of the churches in Pyeng Yang recently, the 
total number of days that were pledged by the Chris- 
tians was more than three thousand, or nearly six 
years' continuous work for one man. " During the 
first three months of the year 1910 an aggregate of 
fully seventy-five thousand days was subscribed, mak- 
ing a total of two hundred and five years of service. 
This is the equivalent of five men preaching the gospel 
continuously in Korea for forty-one years each." * 

Now I urge upon you all the doing this week 
some such service as 

Note. — The Leader should now indicate some definite activity 
in which the members of the school may engage, such as visit- 
ing sick pupils, absentees, recruiting new members, or some 
other form of service requiring an actual expenditure of time 
and effort. 

TWENTIETH SUNDAY 
RECRUITING FOR SERVICE BY A FIELD ITEM 

A BOY FOLLOWS HIS DOLLAR TO THE MIS- 
SION FIELD 

Note. — This item should be read distinctly and with feeling. 

The following is the testimony of a young mission- 
ary who recently went to India : 
* Davis , Korea for Christ. 



58 Five Missionary Minutes 

" When I was a little fellow about nine years old, 
there was a great famine in India. The minister told 
us in church that there were thousands of people dy- 
ing over there, and that one dollar would save one per- 
son's life. Then I saw pictures in the papers and 
magazines of people who were starving. They were so 
thin, like skeletons, and their eyes were sunken. And 
I wondered how I should feel to have no breakfast, and 
no dinner, and no supper, and none the next day, nor 
the next. I thought about my dollar, that would save 
one life. But I thought I could not spare that dollar. 
I had worked hard for it, worked in the hayfield, and 
earned one dollar and fifty-five cents. Oh no, I could 
not spare a whole dollar. Then I thought about the 
people who were dying and I could not stand it any 
longer. I had an awful fight, but I gave up that dol- 
lar. I sent it to save somebody's life. 

" But that dollar was my treasure, it was so much 
to me that when it went to India, my heart went with 
it. I thought about it all the time. I wondered what 
kind of a person it was whose life I had saved. I read 
everything I could find about India. All the time I 
was in school and in college I was interested in India. 
Then they told us in college that in India thousands 
of people were dying without knowing of Jesus, the 
Bread of Life, and they were hungry for him. And I 
felt just as I did when I heard of the famine. I wanted 
to go feed them. I wanted to tell them about Jesus, 
So now I am going to follow my dollar, I give my 
life to India. I want to carry the Bread of Life to 
those people." * 

Leader — Girls and boys, I am glad for the invest- 
ments of money that many of you are making week 
by week to the cause of missions. Follow these gifts 
with your prayers, and ask God if he can use your life 
in any place on the mission field to which your gifts 
are going. That will be the choicest gift you can make 
— your life to missionary service. 

Our pastor will be glad to confer with any of you 

* From Letter published in Over Sea and hand. 



Five Missionary Minutes 59 

who are facing the question of what to do with your 
life, where you can place it most advantageously for 
the kingdom of God. 

TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY 

FIELD ITEM 

THE ROMANTIC STOEY OF THE FIKST FOR- 
EIGN MISSIONARIES OF THE 
KOREAN CHURCH 

Note. — The following pictures should be presented by three 
older Intermediate or Senior members of the school. It will 
be more effective if they stand together on the platform and 
tell the story consecutively. 

First Picture 

About the year 1893 a missionary was walking along 
the streets of Pyeng Yang, Korea, to the inn where he 
was staying. People stared at him as he walked, but 
no face among the hundreds he saw showed any signs 
of friendship or interest. Several young men were fol- 
lowing him, and some were servants from the Gov- 
ernor's quarters. One young man, to show how smart 
he was, picked up a rock and heaved it at the mis- 
sionary. The aim was poor so no harm was done; but 
had the rock struck home there would have been no 
sympathy for the " foreign devil " in the hearts of the 
Koreans who looked on. The missionary paid no at- 
tention to the crowd or the rock. Soon the inn was 
reached and the young men dispersed, laughing, no 
doubt, over how they had rocked the foreigner. The 
young man who threw the rock was named Yi Ei-pung. 

Second Picture 

In 1896 a young Korean and his wife were bap- 
tized in a little town south of Pyeng Yang. The man 
soon died and the young widow, hardly more than a 
schoolgirl, went back to her parents, who lived in the 
mountains of Kok San. The parents were heathen, 
and when the young widow came home, they saw an 
opportunity to make a few dollars, so they sold her. 



60 Five Missionary Minutes 

This was an unbearable fate for the young widow, so 
she tried to escape by fleeing. She was unable to go 
far, for tracers were sent out and she was soon found 
and brought back. Here the poor girl had to live until 
deliverance came from an unexpected quarter. One 
day her master was taken sick, and his brother, afraid 
he might die, took the young woman, brought her to a 
Christian church, and asked the man in charge to keep 
her until called for. He did this because he wanted to 
sell her just as soon as his brother died, and he brought 
her to the church, knowing Christians would not sell 
her. The woman stayed at the church for a time and 
then concluded to go to another church some distance 
away. Here she was found by a missionary on one of his 
regular trips. The leader of the group told her story 
and how, also, a band of roughs were planning to steal 
her some night. The poor woman pleaded that she 
might be taken to Pyeng Yang. The missionary con- 
sented, gave her over to the care of his wife, and for 
three years she worked in his home and attended school 
when school was in session. 

Third Picture 

On January 11, 1908, a large audience gathered in 
the Central Presbyterian Church of Pyeng Yang to bid 
farewell to the first foreign missionary sent out by the 
Korean Presbyterian Church to the Island of Quelpart, 
south of Korea. The missionary made a short fare- 
well address and then Mr. Kil, the pastor of the church, 
spoke, and during his remarks said that this missionary 
must not be discouraged if he should have rocks thrown 
at him by the Quelpart people ; " for/' said Mr. Kil, 
" remember how you threw rocks at the first Pyeng 
Yang missionaries." And the missionary, who was 
Mr. Yi Ki-pung, sat with the tears running down his 
cheeks as Mr. Kil spoke. It was a meeting never to 
be forgotten by those who were present. The next 
morning Mr. Yi and his wife, who was none other 
than the young woman who was rescued by the mis- 
sionary, left for their future field of labor. 

Reported by the Rev. Graham Lee, Pyeng Yang, Korea. 



Five Missionary Minutes 61 

TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY 
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT 
DOWN TO TEE SEA* 

BY WILFRED T. GRENFELL 

Note. — One or more of the incidents narrated below may be 
given at the option of the Leader. 

The modest hero of the Labrador coast, Dr. Wilfred 
T. Grenfell, has given pen pictures of the fishermen's 
lives and of his work among them in a fine little vol- 
ume, Down to the Sea. You can read it through in an 
evening. Some of the characters of the book it will 
do us good to know. 

Bill, the optimist, paralyzed and poverty-stricken, but able to get 
about and drive his dog team is always doing acts of kindness, and 
carrying parcels on his sledge for others, without pay. "When 
remonstrated with for spending too much time on the road doing 
other people's work, he replied : " 'Tis my fashion. I fair loves to 
oblige any one, especially the sick," He shared the belief of the 
fisher folk in many foolish remedies. One of his dogs was very thin 
—from lack of food chiefly— but he told Dr. Grenfell he had given an 
Indian cure for it — "Nine buckshot to eat on a Friday." 

Some of the remedies for human diseases among the 
fishermen were about as superstitious. A toothache 
string worn around the neck, and a green ribbon on 
the left wrist, were regarded as powerful in preventing 
toothache in the one case, and " bleedin' " or hem- 
orrhage in the other. 

Harry Lee, the mate of the Wildflower, is a man worth knowing. 
In command of the schooner, he " hove to " one stormy night at the 
risk of losing his vessel and all on board, taking a chance in a 
thousand of saving a shipwrecked sailor lashed to a beam. Whether 
he succeeded or not Dr. Grenfell tells on pages 108 to no. 

The story of the dogged courage of Captain * Lige Andersen and 
his crew, with their boat sinking under them in mid-Atlantic in the 
dead of winter is thrilling. For days they had labored at the pumps 
and for days they had scanned the waves in hope of a sail. When 

* Published by Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. Price, 
$1.00. A book for Intermediates and older readers. 



62 Five Missionary Minutes 

courage and hope were almost gone, as night drew on a vessel was 
sighted. To signal, Captain Andersen set fire to his boat. The flames 
shot heavenward, and a moment later a brilliant searchlight blinded 
the men on the deck of the sinking Rippling Wave. The rest of the 
story is told on page 59 and following. 

Ask for Down to the Sea, by Dr. Wilfred T. Gren- 
fell. You can get it in the Sunday-school library. 



TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY 

FIELD LETTER, CHINA 

TYPICAL LETTER FROM A PRESENT-DAY 
FOREIGN MISSIONARY 

Note. — See accompanying letter in full. No attempt is made 
to read the letter word for word. Rather, its striking facts are 
seized and emphasized in a way to catch the attention. The 
method of its presentation can he applied to a letter from your 
own mission station. Read carefully chapter IV of this volume. 

Leader — I have a letter here which has come from a 
missionary in Wei Hsien, China. He gives a report 
of the growth of the work that should stir our hearts 
and lead us to pray. Here are some of the encour- 
aging things : 

Standing room only in our church at Wei 
Hsien ! Students from, the College and local 
Christians fill every seat. This is not on spe- 
cial occasions, but it happens every Sunday. 

You thus see if we should drop in to the service 
at Wei Hsien some Sunday, we would have to go 
early, or stand during the service. 

We have good news, too, from the country district 
around Wei Hsien. 

"The churches are scattered; the Christians 
are poor, but they are anxious for their own 
Chinese pastors. Two of these churches have 
recently called such pastors," 



Five Missionary Minutes 63 

This is particularly encouraging because in the 
future the Church in China must depend upon its own 
leaders. 

Here is another sentence from the letter: 

" One man was in the habit of walking seven 
miles to church/' 

How many of you have walked that far to Sunday- 
school to-day ? You will note that this man " was in 
the habit of walking seven miles to church." That 
means he does it every Sunday. 

Just another sentence from the letter, and then we 
will ask Mr to lead us in prayer. 

"Unless we foreign missionaries can unload 
some of our present heavy pastoral cares of old 
fields on to native pastors, there will be no time 
found for entering the many new fields that 
daily offer themselves." 

There is the problem of our missionaries; — fields 
opening which they cannot enter unless more native 
helpers are developed to take care of the work already 
started. 

Now let us thank God for the kind of Christians 
coming into the Church on the mission field, and pray 
that we may do our share in helping to solve the 
problems of our missionaries. 

Note. — The person who now leads in prayer should have been 
told in advance to pray for the definite things just mentioned. 

Copy of letter from Mr. Fitch from which adapta- 
tion ivas made. 

Wei Hsien, Shantung, China, Nov. 29, 1910. 
Dear Friends : 

Our church is crowded to its utmost seating capacity every 
Sabbath, with students from the College and the Middle 
Schools, and with the local Christians. 

The main feature of a recent country trip was the securing 
of calls for pastors in two churches. One of them was for 
a young licentiate, who is to be ordained. This growing desire 
for pastors among the churches is one of the most hopeful signs 



64 Five Missionary Minutes 

of growth among the churches. Growth in numbers has not been 
so marked this year, though about 300 were added during the 
year. We are exceedingly anxious to get more pastors in the 
scattered churches, and among the poor Christians ; but it is 
going to mean that we will have to do some home mission 
work in the way of rendering some assistance in their support. 
For unless we foreign missionaries can unload some of our 
present heavy pastoral cares of old fields on to native pastors, 
there will be no time found for entering the many new fields 
that daily offer themselves. 

A goodly share of the inquirers I examined on my last trip 
came from villages other than the one at which the chapel was 
located. I had to go to one new village, because there were 
so many women among the inquirers, and they could not well 
go to the too distant chapel. Thus are new places continually 
calling for visitation. At The Heaven Valley Mouth village, 
four of the eight inquirers were from other places, and there 
were as many more who were unable to be present also from 
outside villages. One man was in the habit of walking seven 
miles to church. Four men at session meeting came from a 
village three miles distant. Their women folk were also inter- 
ested, but could not come so far on their small feet. As there 
are other Christians in their village of Chang yu, it means that 
a chapel will have to be opened there ere long. This scattering 
of the interest is a hopeful sign, but is very disconcerting to 
those who have to plan their shepherding. Do you wonder 
that we are very anxious for more pastors? One of the most 
touching incidents of the Presbytery was when Elder Chu plead 
with us not to let Pastor Ma resign from their church. But 
Mr. Ma felt he must for health reasons, and we were under 
the painful necessity of voting against the elder's plea. 

It has been asked whether the volunteers for the ministry in 
the college were holding out. Some of them are already in the 
theological college at Ching Choufu. A fear sprang up among 
them that the church would not be able to support them, and 
there was some hesitation at one time, and there now seems 
every hope that a reasonable number of them will remain true 
to their purpose. I feel sure that numbers of decisions were 
made too precipitately, and ought to be revised. Of course, we 
would all rejoice if there was no need for these reconsiderations, 
but, after all, they are the less of two evils, and the ministry 
is the better for such siftiugs. 

Yours very truly, 

J. A. Fitch. 



Five Missionary Minutes 65 

Twenty-fourth Sunday 
HYMN INTRODUCTION AND SCRIPTURE 
ONWARD, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS 

Scripture Lesson : Revelation vii. 9-17 

Leader — At the great World's. Sunday-school Con- 
vention, which was held in Washington, D. C, in 
May, 1910, one of the hymns that was sung on World's 
Sunday-school Day was " Onward, Christian Soldiers." 
This hymn and others on the program had been trans- 
lated into more than two hundred languages, and were 
used on that same Sunday, May 22, all over the world. 

Wouldn't it be a fine thing, if to-day we had with us, 
in our Sunday-school, representatives from all of these 
different tribes and nations to join with us in this 
hymn? We could not understand their languages, but 
they could sing in their own tongues and join with us 
in the same tune. 

With these persons in mind, note especially the 
words in the second and fourth stanzas of the hymn, 

We are not divided, 
All one body we. 

Onward then, ye people, 
Join our happy throng, 
Blend with ours your voices 
In the triumph song. 

Let us all join most heartily in singing this hymn 
to-day. 

Note. — At the conclusion of the hymn if it is desired to use 
the following Scripture passage, the Leader may say : 

Leader — In our song we have been ascribing glory, 
laud, and honor unto Christ, our King, and calling 
upon others to blend with ours their voices in the tri- 
umph song. Let us, therefore, turn for our Scripture 
lesson to the seventh chapter of Revelation and read 
verses nine to seventeen. This passage tells us of the 
countless multitude of the redeemed before God's 
throne, and as you read verse nine, I want you to ob- 
serve where they come from. 



66 Five Missionary Minutes 

Let us read verses nine to twelve inclusive in con- 
cert, and verses thirteen to seventeen responsively. 

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY 

TEMPERANCE ITEM 

WHEEE LIQITOK IS CURRENCY AND CHIL- 
DREN AEE PAWNED FOR DRINK 

One of the most flagrant national sins of our time 
is the debauching of Oriental and African peoples by 
the liquor traffic carried on by representatives of Chris- 
tian nations. 

The enormity of this sin was brought out at the 
World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh. 

The vices of the Western life seem to work with much 
more deadliness among men of the more simple civili- 
zations. The great instance is the increase in the 
liquor traffic which is traced directly to the West. 
It would be difficult to mention a part of the non- 
Christian world where the liquor traffic is not increas- 
ing. But its most fearful ravages are to be found in 
the ports and hinterland of Africa. 

In the year 1908 over three million gallons of spirits 
were imported into Southern Nigeria, valued at about 
one fourth of the value of the total imports of that 
colony. It is significant that liquor is often used for 
currency. Drunkenness is very prevalent in different 
parts of the colony, especially those most exposed to 
European influence. Not only the men, but also the 
women and the children are addicted to it, and it is 
said that in many places possibly the women drink 
more than the men. Bishop Johnson recently told of 
having visited a school of seventy-five children between 
the ages of eight and sixteen, where, on inquiry, he 
found that only fifteen of them had not been drinking 
gin. The desire for drink is becoming so dominant 
that cases are not infrequent of parents pawning their 
children to get money to spend for liquor. 

One of the striking indications of the spread of the 
liquor traffic is the fact that even Mohammedans have 



Five Missionary Minutes 67 

become addicted to intemperance. One of the most 
damaging and serious facts of all is that for purposes 
of revenue this traffic is often directly promoted by 
colonial governments, and is in other ways conducted 
with their connivance or tacit approval. 

It is bad enough for our governments to tolerate the 
liquor traffic at home. 

It is surely advancing to " greater sin," when for the 
sake of gold, these helpless, simple peoples are de- 
stroyed by liquor and the work of uplift conducted 
by Christian missionaries thwarted. 

From Kingdom Comments. 

TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

AN IMMIGRANT'S LIFE STOEY 

Note. — The following item should be told in the first person 
by some one impersonating the immigrant. If read, with no 
attempt at impersonation, it should be done clearly and im- 
pressively. 

"I was born in N...., eight miles from Berlin. 
When I was three years of age my father moved to a 
little village not far from the town of W . . . . in 
Russia. At the age of four, I was sent to a Hebrew 
school, which I attended for two years. After that 
my father engaged a private teacher, who lived at our 
house; he taught me reading, writing, and arithmetic, 
and religious knowledge. I was instructed in the five 
Books of Moses, and in the Prophets according to the 
Jewish beliefs. This teacher stayed with us for four 
years, and by the end of that time I was being taught 
in the Jewish tabernacle. I worked on the farm for 
one year, helping my father. When I was eleven years, 
I started again to school in the town of W. ... to learn 
the Russian language. I attended school for one year 
and three months, after which I went home for the 
summer holidays. During my holidays an incident 
transpired in my life which I shall always remember. 
On Sunday I was at a Catholic church, and listened 



6S Five Missionary Minutes 

to the priest, who, to my mind and way of thinking, 
did not preach the unvarnished truth to the poor un- 
educated people. At the close of the service he came 
through the pews carrying a gold cross in his hand, 
and requesting all the people to kiss it. This I refused 
to do. Then he began to preach directly to me, telling 
me if I refused to obey I would invoke the anger of 
God. He finished by telling how cruelly the Jews 
treated Christ, and urged his people to be cruel to the 
Jews when they had the chance. At this I got up on a 
chair, and began to talk to the people. I cannot re- 
member now exactly what I said, but the tenor of my 
speech was that the people should think for them- 
selves and not be led astray by those who preached for 
material gain. Space will not permit me to go into 
details, but suffice it to say that my act was a grave 
offense against the Russian law, and a few hours after 
I got home two police officials came to my father's to 
take me to the jail. My father took me out on bail, 
and as I was under age I did not receive any punish- 
ment, but was warned if a like occurrence happened I 
would pay for the whole business. When I was about 
thirteen years of age I went back to school and got 
mixed up with Socialists. I was greatly influenced, 
and a few months found me a Socialist organizer and 
preacher. While I was thus engaged I learned that 
the law officers were hunting for me. I had to leave 
home and flee into Germany with friends, where I re- 
mained for three years, when I left and came to Canada. 
I was sixteen years of age, I could not speak a word 
of English, and did not know any people here. I do 
not go to any place of worship. I spend my time 
reading." 

Leader — In two years since coming to Canada this 
young man made fifteen hundred dollars and held a 
responsible position with a city firm. His story is 
typical and pleads the cause of the immigrants now 
coming both to Canada and the United States. Their 
old faith is lost. What have we to offer them? 

Woodsworth, Strangers Within Our Gates. 



THIRD QUARTER 

TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY 
SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION 

HEARING THE CRUCIFIXION STORY FOR 
THE FIRST TIME 

Scripture Lesson: Isaiah liii. 3-7 ; John iii. 14-18. 

Leader — The mountain evangelist, George O. Barnes, 
it is said, once stopped at a mountain cabin and told 
the story of the crucifixion as few other men can. 
When he was quite through, an old woman who had 
listened in absorbed silence, asked: 

" Stranger, you say that that happened a long while 
ago?" 

" Yes," said Mr. Barnes, " almost two thousand 
years ago." 

" And they treated him that way when he'd come 
down f er nothin' on earth but to save 'em ? " 

" Yes." 

The old woman was crying softly, and she put out 
her hand and laid it on his knee. 

" Well, stranger," she said, " let's hope that hit ain't 
so." 

There was a charm in hearing the gospel story for 
the first time that stirred that mountain woman's soul. 
She was pained that humanity was capable of such in- 
gratitude, to crucify the Lord. But she needed to learn 
that it pleased the Lord to bruise him (Isaiah liii. 10) 
in order that redemption might be possible. 

Let us read together for our Scripture Lesson to- 
day the passage from Isaiah that foretells the suffer- 
ing of the Messiah. It is found in the fifty-third 
chapter, verses three to seven, and then let us couple 

69 



70 Five Missionary Minutes 

with it the third chapter of John, verses fourteen to 
eighteen. 

Adapted from Fox, Blue Grass and Rhododendron. 



TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY 

RECRUITING FOR SERVICE BY SUGGESTING 
DEFINITE ACTIVITY 

UTILIZING WASTE MATEKIAL* 

Leader — To-day we are to hear about a very practical 
thing we can do along the line of missionary service. 
We have secured the name of one of our own mission- 
aries, , in , to whom we are asked 

(Insert name) (Insert place) 

to send picture cards, illustrated papers, and magazines, 

picture post-cards, etc. Miss would like to 

meet at the close of Sunday-school to-day the Junior 
Department and all others who will help in the col- 
lecting and sending of such material to the field. She 
has some plans t to outline to you. 

Now we are to hear how the sending of some of 
these things is appreciated. 

Note. — Members of the school now read the following. 
Leader — A missionary in China t writes : 

"A little woman in Hinghwa, China, tells the fol- 
lowing story of how she became a Christian: 

" i I lived on the corner, less than a block from the 
church, and had never been inside of it. One day my 
boy saw the children coming from Sunday-school with 

* Write to the Superintendent of the Waste Material Depart- 
ment of the World's Sunday School Association, 1415 Mailers 
Building, Chicago, 111., stating your denomination in full, and 
he will send you the name of a home or foreign missionary to 
whom waste material may be sent. 

f Announce time and place when a meeting will be held 
during the week when the cards and papers may be brought and 
prepared for shipment to the mission field. Write for ex- 
planatory leaflet to the Waste Material Department, 1415 Mai- 
lers Building, Chicago, 111. 

% Mrs. Elizabeth F. Brewster. 



Five Missionary Minutes 71 

their cards. " Give me one," he said. " No, you go 
to Sunday-school next week and you will get one, too/' 
the children replied. 

" ' He kept count and the next Sunday I missed my 
boy. I went out to look for him. " O, he has gone 
to the church of the Jesus doctrine," some one told 
me. 

" ' I was frightened. I had a rice-dust-covered cloth 
on my head, for I was cleaning rice to earn my daily 
food. I did not stop to brush my clothes, but went 
right up to the church full of fear. 

" ' I entered the women's door and saw what amazed 
me — a group of women reading. I had not believed 
it possible for women to read and look so happy. Be- 
fore I had not thought of my own appearance. I 
looked for my boy and saw him in a group reading 
the text which was to be recited when he would get his 
coveted card. I went away and later my boy came 
with his card. He also told me the Bible verse he had 
recited. Next Sunday I tidied myself and went with 
my boy. 

" ' That was the beginning and we became Chris- 
tians.' 

" The woman, driven to despair for food for herself 
and children, had been a ' sinner,' and now she must 
find some other way. Her son and the little girl who 
had been betrothed in infancy to her son were given to 
the orphanage. She was given work that she might 
earn an honest living. 

" A whole family was saved by the little picture 
cards." 

Leader — Here is a word from Korea : * 

" I have received pictures from time to time, though 
not nearly enough to supply the needs in my country 
Bible classes. It is touching to see an old woman of 
seventy years carrying a little card around for days, 
and sleeping with it under her pillow at night, because 

* From a letter received by the Rev. Samuel D. Price, Super- 
intendent of the Waste Material Department of the World's 
Sunday School Association. 



72 Five Missionary Minutes 

it not only is the only picture she ever possessed, but it 
opens such an easy field for preaching. 

" We depend very largely upon our Christian Ko- 
reans to bring the non-Christians into the Church, and 
anything we can give them which encourages and helps 
them to do more and better preaching is of most vital 
importance. Hence I will be very grateful for all cards 
and picture rolls, especially those about the Life of 
Christ. I paste white paper over the backs of the 
cards upon which I have the text written in the native 
text. If the scholars at home could cover the cards in 
that way, it would save a lot of time and make it pos- 
sible for me to use still more of them." 

Leader — This statement is from India : * 

" As several hundred of our boys and girls under- 
stand English well, copies of the Youth's C ompanion or 
Forward, or any other good magazine would be very 
acceptable. Calendars, old and new, would be most 
useful. Please send me a copy of Peloubet's Notes or 
TarbelFs Guide. Also ideas on junior and kinder- 
garten work for use in teaching the children. Library 
books that have been read and replaced by new ones, 
the Sunday School Times (we are six months behind 
the lessons here), and the Christian Herald would be 
very acceptable." " I can reach as many children as I 
have cards for." " The homes are wholly destitute in 
the line of pictures and literature. I find advertis- 
ing pictures of English firms, some of which are very 
immoral, and pictures of Hindu gods and other 
heatheninsh illustrations in houses everywhere these 
can be had. People beg at our doors for catalogues of 
business firms for the sake of the pictures." " In the 
Sunday-schools we use the small cards as rewards for 
committing verses of the Bible." 

Leader — I hope a goodly number of our scholars will 

meet Miss after Sunday-school, so that we 

may have a share in sending some of these needed 

things to the mission field. 

* From a letter received by the Rev. Samuel D. Price, Super- 
intendent of the Waste Material Department of the World's 
Sunday School Association. 



Five Missionary Minutes 73 

TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY 

FIELD ITEM 

BIBLE STUDY UNDER DIFFICULTIES 

A mother in Brazil, who had bought a Bible and 
shared its teachings with her children, was forbidden by 
her husband to read it, but she had become so much 
interested that she only hid it away while he was about 
' the house. He learned from the servants and the chil- 
dren that she was still reading the book, and several 
times treated her roughly and beat her for disobeying 
his prohibition. She then conceived the idea of read- 
ing at night when all were asleep. To do this she 
would hide her Bible, a box of matches, and a candle, 
cut into small pieces, under her pillow. After all the 
household were soundly asleep she would light one of 
the bits of candle and hold it closely down by her side 
that the light might not shine across her body and dis- 
turb her sleeping husband, and thus she spent many 
nights seeking out of God's book his messages for her 
soul. The children of this godly woman have grown 
into beautiful Christian characters, bringing up their 
families in the knowledge and fear of God. 
Tucker in Wonder Stories — Latin America. 

THIRTIETH SUNDAY 

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION AND PRAYER 

THE INFLUENCE OF A STOLEN BIBLE 

Scripture Lesson : Numbers xxxii. 23 ; Proverbs xxviii. 13 

Jhwani Das was the name of a highway robber in 
India. One day he held up and robbed a native Chris- 
tian teacher. Part of the booty was some portions of 
the Bible. He took the book home, and his son, who 
was a schoolboy, asked for it. One day Jhwani Das 
asked his son to read to him from this book. The boy 
opened the Bible, by what we call chance, to the Book 
of Numbers, the 32d Chapter and 23d verse. (t Be sure 
your sin will find you out." 



74 Five Missionary Minutes 

The father had no sooner heard this verse than he 
began to tremble and show great fear. His son asked 
him what was the matter, but got no answer. Later the 
father took the book himself and began to read, and 
came again upon the very same verse. Convicted of 
his sin and fearing coming punishment, he read further 
in the Old Testament, and then in the New, and learned 
of Christ the Savior from sin. He then went to the 
mission station at Budaon, where he was baptized, and 
he lived an exemplary life until the time of his death. 

Let us turn to this verse in our Bibles — Numbers 
xxxii. 23 — and read it together. 

" Be sure your sin will find you out." 

Does it say " every one of your sins men will find 
out"? 

No, though they do find out a good many of 
them ; but whether men find them out or not, 
sin and its penalty will find us out. 

Now turn to another verse — Proverbs xxviii. 13 — and 
read with me the first clause. 

" He that covereth his transgressions shall not 
prosper." 

Even if we cover up sin from men's eyes, we can't 
from God's, and even if outwardly prosperous, con- 
science is remorselessly condemning us. Now read the 
rest of the verse. 

"But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them 
shall obtain mercy." 

Note the two things that must be done: 

Confess, Forsake. 

Let us pray: 

We thank thee, our Heavenly Father, that thou hast made 
provision for sin's forgiveness, that the blood of Jesus Christ 
thy Son cleanseth us from all sin, provided ive confess and for- 
sake it. Grant, O Father, that no one of us may so deceive 
ourselves as to think that our sin will not find us out. We 
know we cannot conceal it from thy gaze, and so we make con- 



Five Missionary Minutes 75 

fession this day and ask for grace and strength to forsake the 
sins that so strongly appeal to us, so easily beset us, and so 
often cause our doivnfall. May the conquering Christ grip us 
and break sin's powers in our lives. Nor should we forget to 
pray to-day for others in sin's grasp in our city, our land, and in 
the dark places of the earth. Bring home to men's consciences 
the truth that their sin will find them out, and lead them to 
repentance and faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. We ask it in 
Jesus' name. Amen. 

Adapted from item in the Missionary Review of the 
World. 

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY 

HYMN INTRODUCTION 

THEOW OUT THE LIFE LINE 

Note. — If this hymn is not in the school hymnal, get a copy 
of a book that has it, and have some one sing the stanzas as 
a solo. Write on the blackboard the chorus, so that the entire 
school may sing it. 

Out in the great Northwest about two hundred thou- 
sand men are at work in the lumber camps. These 
"lumber jacks/' as they are called, welcome the sturdy 
home missionary who, as hardy as themselves, brings 
to them a manly gospel. One such " sky pilot " had 
promised the " boys " he would be with them on a cer- 
tain evening. As he came along the railroad tracks 
about a quarter of a mile from the logging-camp, he 
began to sing. The clerk heard him, rushed out into 
the bunk house, and called out, " He's coming, boys." 
Fifty men made a break for the door and broke into 
" Three cheers for the chaplain.' 7 

After a little rest, the evening service was begun 
by one of the favorite hymns of the lumbermen, " Throw 
out the life-line." The chaplain asked the foreman if 
the roof was good and strong, and, being assured that it 
was, he told the boys to pull out every stop. 

Leader — I am sure the roof of our Sunday-school 
room is all right, too, so you also can pull out the 
stops as we all join in singing this gospel hymn, 
" Throw out the life-line." 

Adapted from Piatt, The Frontier. 



76 Five Missionary Minutes 

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY 
FIELD LETTER, CANADA 

TYPICAL LETTEE FEOM A MISSIONAKY 
MAGAZINE 

Note. — Often in the missionary magazines will be found let- 
ters of general interest, parts of which may be brought to the 
attention of the local Sunday-school, whether the school may 
be supporting work at the particular station mentioned or not. 
The school will thus be trained to have broad missionary 
interests. 

Leader — We are to hear to-day, not from our own 
mission station, but of work among the foreigners in 
North America. They present one of the great big 
problems that our Home Mission Board is trying to 
solve, and you will be interested to learn how a live 
young missionary up in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, 
Canada, is working among them. 

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 
My dear Friends : 

The atmosphere of my study this evening has been 
A 4 E 2 (which being interpreted means: Austrian, four; 
English, one). Had you the privilege of being one of 
this group, you would have seen and heard some in- 
teresting things. Perhaps the most interesting thing 
would have been to see one English-speaking fellow tak- 
ing an overdose of Austrian through eyes, ears, mouth, 
et al. But the dose was not by any means nauseous, 
for I have become accustomed to overdoses of a similar 
nature these days. You see, it's one of the many ways 
of acquiring a new language. All you have to do is to 
create an Austrian atmosphere by getting a few of your 
Austrian friends in and start the conversation. 

I suppose I shall have to make this in my diary as my 
" Austrian evening." Last evening was somewhat 
" Dutch." I had six fine specimens of the Hollanders 
who are here. They are earnestly learning English, 
and have come to me for whatever help I can give them. 

Edmonton, the Mecca of the West, is growing rap- 
idly. She is already a cosmopolitan city. On Jaspar 
Avenue, Jews, Germans, Frenchmen, Austrians, 



Five Missionary Minutes 77 

Chinese, and Canadians compete with each other for 
the trade of the city. In the market-place, the Eng- 
lishman, the American, the German, the Dutch, the 
Indian, the Austrian, the French, and the Swede bring 
the products of the soil. In the college, the Indian, 
the Austrian, the German, and the Canadian are study- 
ing the same text-books. At almost every turn you 
come face to face with the strangers. They are here 
from almost every nation under heaven — dwellers in 
Africa, in Russia, in China, in Austria, and in the ut- 
termost parts of the earth. What must we as a Church 
do ? Perhaps wiser and older heads than mine will give 
us the solution. Our work at present consists in house- 
to-house visitation and heart-to-heart talks. As we 
have opportunity we read the Word and " sow beside 
all waters." It is most interesting and profitable work. 
Come with me for an afternoon's visiting. This is an 
Austrian street, nearly every house on the street being 
occupied by Austrians. Let us knock at this neat little 
shack. 

" Slava Isusa (Glory to Jesus), how are you to-day? 
Is your husband at home? He is not? Where does he 
work ? Oh, yes, yes ; and does he know how to read ? " 

" Oh, yes, he can read Ruthenian, Polish, and Ger- 
man." 

" That is good. And has he the Bible? " 

" Yes, he has the Bible and reads it very much." 

" Do you love Jesus ? " 

"Why not?" 

" Yes, we must love Jesus, and if we love him we 
shall keep his commandments. I suppose if you love 
him you keep his commandments ? " 

" I cannot keep them all for they are too hard." 

" Oh, but Jesus will help you if you ask him. Good- 
day." 

Look at that cute little house there. Let's see who 
lives in it. 

"Good-afternoon. Who is living here, please?" 
" Anthon Walchuk, sir." 
"Can you read?" 



78 Five Missionary Minutes 

" No, sir, I cannot read." 

" May I read you something from the best Book in 
the world? I have a good Book here which tells of 
' the way, the truth, and the life.' Listen to this : ' God 
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son 
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but 
have eternal life.' That is good, isn't it ? " 

" Yes, yes, that is good. I am getting old, sir, and 
it is time for me to be finding out about the way. Will 
you come again, sir ? " 

" Yes, I will come again soon. Jesus is the Way, 
and no man cometh unto the Father but by him." 

Oh, there is nothing that can take the place of such 
work, but we need to be working along other lines at the 
same time, for we have problems that we cannot solve 
this way. How are we going to deal with the type of 
Socialism we find among these people ? It is a mixture 
of socialism, infidelity, and Christianity. They have a 
false idea of freedom and throw off all religious 
restraint. We must come to them and teach them that 
they must know the truth and the truth will make 
them free. What shall we do to counteract the teach- 
ing of a religious system which declares that the more 
education a man gets the more the Lord darkens his 
mind, and that good faith is true education? And 
further, that the priest is responsible for the souls of 
the people to whom he ministers, no matter whether 
they sin or not. What shall we do, I ask, to bring the 
reign of the higher and nobler things for this people ? * 

Note. — At the conclusion of the letter the Leader may call 
upon some one to offer brief prayer for the missionaries at 
work among foreigners in our own land. 

* Adapted from a letter of the Rev. W. H. Pike in The Missionary 
Bulletin published by the Missionary Society of the Methodist Church of 
Canada, 



Five Missionary Minutes 79 

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY 
REPORT ON MISSIONARY INVESTMENTS 

THE BOY WHO WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT 
THE KETURNS 

Note. — If the school observes Kingdom Day (18th Sunday ) 
or is giving regularly otherwise to Missions, then on one or 
more Sundays in the year reports should be given to the school 
how the money has been spent. The surest way to get a second 
dollar is to tell about the good the first one has accomplished. 
Several months may ordinarily elapse after Kingdom Day before 
a report should be given. 

One day a boy said to his mother : " I am going down 
to the church to-night to hear the missionary from 
Africa, for when he was here before, I gave him five 
cents, and I want to know what he has done with it." 

That boy was exactly right. He had made an in- 
vestment in the missionary enterprise, and he was in- 
terested in the returns. He had a right to expect 
dividends, and when the missionary returned he was 
interested to learn what had been accomplished. That 
boy is likely to grow up with an increasing interest in 
the cause of missions. 

Too often we give unintelligently and with little in- 
terest, not expecting to hear of the good our money 
does. 

I am glad to bring you a report to-day concerning the 
money we have invested as a Sunday-school the past 
year in our mission work at home and abroad. 



Note.— The leader or person appointed should now present to the 
school a brief but interesting statement of the amount collected and 
expended during the year, together with concrete incidents obtained from 
the missionary in charge, or from your denominational Mission Boards, 
showing results of the work. 



80 Five Missionary Minutes 

THIRTY-FOURTH SUNDAY 

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION AND HYMN 

PSALMS OF THE BESIEGED AT PEKING 

Scripture Lesson : Psalm xxxiv. 4-7 ; Psalm cxxiv. Hymn, Peace, 
Perfect Peace 

In the year 1900 there occurred in China the Boxer 
outbreak, an attempt to drive out of the Empire all 
foreigners. Hundreds of them were killed, among 
them many missionaries. The Boxer fury was also 
directed against the native Christians, because they 
had accepted a foreign religion, and thousands of them 
suffered death rather than renounce Christianity. 

In the capitol at Peking large numbers of foreigners 
and native Christians took refuge in the British lega- 
tion. For more than two months they were surrounded 
by howling mobs of Chinese soldiers bent on their de- 
struction. The besieged men and women, with worn 
and haggard faces, met each morning to sing and 
pray. There were endless disturbances, children cry- 
ing, and sewing-machines buzzing, as they made the 
countless bags that were necessary for fortification. 
People were coming and going constantly, and yet 
withal, a reverent worship was possible. Bibles opened 
almost of their own accord to the Psalms which seemed 
exactly to describe the daily distress and peril, and the 
utter dependence upon God for deliverance. 

Let us read two such Psalms, the thirty-fourth, 
verses four to seven, and Psalm one hundred and twen- 
ty-fourth. 

In the thirty-fourth Psalm I shall read the first clause 
of the verses mentioned, and the school will take up 
the following clauses to the end of each sentence. By 
so doing, we have the Psalmist's declaration and the 
response, and the thought of the verses is more clearly 
emphasized than if we read responsively by verses. 
For example: 

Leader— "I sought Jehovah." 
School—" And he answered me and delivered me 
from all my fears." 



Five Missionary Minutes 81 

Leader— 66 They looked unto him." 
School— 66 And were radiant ; and their faces shall 
never be confounded," etc. 

Leader — In reading the one hundred and twenty- 
fourth Psalm, I will read verses one and two, the school 
verses three to five, and we will all read in unison verses 
six to eight. 

Note. — At the conclusion of the Scripture the leader will 
say : 

We will now join in singing a hymn which the be- 
sieged Christians at Peking frequently sang. 

Peace, perfect peace. 

Note. — If this hymn is not in your school hymnal, use " The 
Son of God goes forth to war," which was also used under the 
same circumstances noted above. 

Adapted from Hubbard, Under Marching Orders. 

THIRTY-FIFTH SUNDAY 

PRAYER INTRODUCTION 

" KEDO-HAPSATA," LET US PEAY 

" Kedo-hapsata " (let us pray) were the words 
spoken by ~Ne Che-su, the Korean language teacher of 
a newly arrived missionary in Pyeng Yang. The mis- 
sionary had been almost in despair as he attempted to 
learn the difficult language, but one Sunday night after 
service Mr. Ne came to him and said something that, 
though the missionary could not understand, he could 
yet distinguish the sounds. The very first words that 
the Korean taught the missionary were " kedo-hapsata." 
" I would be seated at my desk ready to begin," wrote 
the missionary, " but he was not. ' Kedo-hapsata ' he 
would say, and I understood him, for in a moment he 
had slipped from his place by my side to the floor and 
was praying. Every morning and afternoon for three 
years it was i Kedo-hapsata.' God sent me a spirit- 
filled teacher, and he prayed the language into me; 
prayed and labored until I was afraid not to study 
as hard as I ought." 



82 Five Missionary Minutes 

Let us pray not only in Sunday-school and church, 
and morning and evening each day, but any time, any- 
where, for guidance and help. Will Mr 

now lead us? 

Adapted from Blair, The Korean Pentecost. 



THIRTY-SIXTH SUNDAY 
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT 

ADVENTURES WITH FOUR-FOOTED FOLK* 

BY BELLE M. BRAIN 

Every girl and boy is acquainted with some four- 
footed folk, perhaps it is a horse, a dog, or a cat, your 
own or your neighbor's. They make mighty good 
friends, and they appreciate attention and kindness. 

I suppose a number of you could stand up here to- 
day and tell some fine stories about your four-footed 
friends and the experiences you have had with them. 
There is not time for that now, but I want to in- 
troduce to you some four-footed folk that you do not 
have in your home — a whole collection of them. The 
kind you see in the menageries and zoological gardens. 
There are a lot of fine stories about them in this book 
— short stories, too — that you will like to read. 
(Hold the book up in view of the school.) 

Here is one of them:f 

Rev. and Mrs. Hans Egede and their four chil- 
dren went to Greenland to live — a very cold place. One 
day a strange and uninvited guest came to call. Mrs. 
Egede was busy about her household duties when, sud- 
denly, she heard a noise at the door, and, looking up, 
what should she see but a big white polar bear evi- 
dently in search of his dinner. He was trying to push 
his way into the house. 

There seemed no way of escape and no means of 

* Published by Fleming H. Revell Company, New York. Price, 
$1.00, net. A book suitable for Junior readers, 
t Adapted from Brain, Adventures with Four-footed Folk. 



Five Missionary Minutes 83 

protection, and for a moment Mrs. Egede stood there 
frightened almost to death. Then, suddenly, a thought 
struck her. What that thought was and how she acted 
on it is told on page 166 of this book. 

The first girl or boy who asks the Sunday-school 
Librarian for it after Sunday-school will get it for this 
week, but be sure to bring it back next Sunday, so 
some one else can have it. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

AN APPEAL THAT BROUGHT THE CHURCH 
IN HONAN TO INDEPENDENCE 

Mr. Hu (Who) is a great preacher in Honan, China. 
Indeed, he is called " The Spurgeon of North China." 
In 1910 the foreign missionaries endeavored to per- 
suade the Honanese Christians that the time had now 
arrived when they should become more independent 
of the help of the Canadian Church. They found it 
difficult, however, to induce them to form a native Pres- 
bytery. They feared being cast off to sink or swim. 

Mr. Hu arose and thus appealed to his fellow Chris- 
tians. Taking an egg, he said :" You see if I try to 
stand this egg on end, it will topple over, but if I put 
an egg-cup under it )y (which he did) " it stands up- 
right. Now, we are just like this egg. When we were 
not able to stand alone, the foreign Church supported 
us. But the time has now arrived when the egg-cup 
must be taken away. Let me tell you, then, how we 
must stand on our own feet." He then tapped the one 
end of the egg on the desk and broke the shell a little, 
thus flattening it. " Now you see the egg is able to 
stand alone when the shell is crushed a little. So we 
must break a little of our shell of selfishness and give 
more for the Lord's work." 

Then changing his illustration, he said : " We are 
like the egg also in another way. You know what 
would happen if a hen were to sit on a good egg. About 
three weeks later a chicken would come out of the egg, 



84 Five Missionary Minutes 

self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating. 
It would have to be mothered by the hen for a little 
while, but in a few weeks it would be off. So we have 
been mothered now for a long time by the foreign 
Church, but it is time that we should scratch for our- 
selves and thus be independent of the mother Church." 
Then he appealed to the audience to vote for the 
establishment of their own Presbytery. His arguments 
were so conclusive and his personality so strong that 
the last doubter was won and they voted enthusi- 
astically and unanimously, and thus the first native 
Presbytery was organized in North Honan. 

Reported by the Rev. Donald MacGillivray, Shanghai, 
Editor of the China Mission Year Book. 

THIRTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY 
TEMPERANCE ITEM 

INDIANS WHOM FIRE-WATER COULD NOT 
TEMPT 

In Ontario, Canada, near the village of Muncey, in 
the early days a missionary had gone among the In- 
dians, and had shown them the evils of intoxicants. 
Many of them, therefore, when they became Christians, 
refused to drink any fire-water. 

One day four of these converted Indians went to 
Muncey to trade. The white trader offered them whis- 
ky, but they refused it, saying they were Christians. 
He thought perhaps they were unwilling to be seen 
drinking it in public, as report of it might reach the 
missionary. As the trader knew the path they were to 
take on the way home, he put a small keg of whisky 
in a certain spot near the top of a bank, and hid nea/ 
by, thinking he would enjoy seeing the Indians drink 
the whisky when they believed they were alone. Soon 
they came along the path, when, suddenly, the first 
one stopped and said: a O, mah-je-mum-d-doo sah- 
oomah ahyah — Lo, the evil spirit (the devil) is here." 
The second, on coming up, said, " Aahe, nebeji-mah- 
mahsah — Yes, me smell him." The third shook the keg 



Five Missionary Minutes 85 

with his foot, and said, " Kaguit, nenoondahwahsah — 

Of a truth me hear him." The fourth Indian, coming 

up, gave the keg a kick, and away went the fire-water, 

tumbling down the hill. The four Indians went on 

their way like brave warriors, leaving the mortified 

white heathen to take up his keg and drink the devil 

himself." 

Adapted from Young, The Apostle of the North, James 

Evans. 

Note. — Not immediately following the above Temperance Item, 
but at some other convenient time in the Sunday-school session, 
preferably at the close, the questions below may be asked. 

Announcing an Incident One Week in Advance 

Leader — How many of the members of our school 
own their own Bibles? 

I am glad to see that so many of you do. 

Would you be willing to give your Bible away, if you 
could not possibly get another one? 

Wo, I don't believe you would. 

Well, next Sunday, Mr is going to tell us 

about a man who tore his Bible to pieces, and why 
he did it. 

Better be on hand promptly at the opening of the 
school if you want to hear the story. 

THIRTY-NINTH SUNDAY 

FIELD item 

A LAOS EVANGELIST TEARS HIS BIBLE IN 
PIECES 

Note. — Interest in this incident should be aroused a week in 
advance by asking the questions suggested under Note on the 
Thirty-eighth Sunday. 

What would you think of a man who would take a 
Bible, pull off the binding, and tear it in pieces book 
by book? 

Note. — Get the pupils to give some answers. 



86 Five Missionary Minutes 

Well, the man I am going to tell you about was not 
irreverent nor foolish at all. In fact, he was an 
evangelist and he lived in Laos, the country just north 
of Siam. A few years ago he was converted in the 
mission hospital at Lakawn. On a visit to his former 
home, the people noted what a great change had come 
over him, and they listened to him as he told them 
the gospel. As a result of his testimony, six entire 
families were led to Christ. They were, however, with- 
out Bibles and would have no one to instruct them in 
Christian doctrine when the young evangelist should go 
away. 

Unfortunately, too, he had exhausted his supply of 
Christian books before he came to their village. What 
was he to do, when the converts so greatly needed in- 
struction and he could not remain among them? 

Taking his own Bible, he tore off the binding and 
divided the books among the various households. When 
he returned to the city, he was able to get another Bible 
for himself, and he gave to the missionary a joyful 
account of his work. 



FOURTH QUARTER 

FORTIETH SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

IDOLATEY TRANSPLANTED IN NOKTH 
AMEKICA 

We are met to-day in a Christian Sunday-school to 
worship God. We think of heathenism as something 
very far away. But do you know that right here in 
America idolatry is practised and heathen worship en- 
gaged in? 

Among the thousands of immigrants on our shores 
are many Orientals. In some of the larger cities of 
the United States and Canada there are well-defined 
districts, known as Chinatown. Suppose we visit a 
Joss-house or temple of worship in one of these dis- 
tricts ? 

At the entrance lighted sticks of punk make an ill- 
smelling odor, and we enter a large square room which 
is rather dark and filled with more odor of burning in- 
cense on the gilded altar. Back of the altar in a dark 
niche is the figure of the black-bearded god, who is an 
evil-looking fellow. Near by is an open fireplace, and 
by the side of it a drum. When the worshiper enters, 
this drum is beaten to attract the attention of the 
demons, and then a prayer paper is lighted at the fire- 
place and is carried up the flue by the draught to the 
demons who await its coming. The worshiper then 
falls upon his knees on the prayer mat and knocks his 
head upon the ground. He holds in his hands two 
small pieces of wood about the size of beans. Having 
offered a sacrifice of a pig, or a fowl, or rice, tea, etc., on 
the altar, he lets the wooden pieces fall, and the way 
they drop on the mat indicates the answer to his 
prayer. 

87 



88 Pive Missionary Minutes 

Do you see him kneeling there, in the vain hope 
that the black-bearded god will hear? Do you realize 
that this worship of idols is taking place in America, 
and that on our own soil heathenism has been trans- 
planted ? Is this " a yellow peril " or " a golden op- 
portunity " ? 

Adapted from Woodsworth, Strangers Within Our Gates. 

FORTY-FIRST SUNDAY 
SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION 
FEEDING THE HUNGEY 

Scripture Lesson : Matthew xiv. 13-21 

Leader — Did any of the members of our school eat 
any bread for breakfast to-day? 

Yes, I see most of you did. 

To whom did you give thanks for this food? 
To God, of course. 

Can you think of any miracle Jesus ever performed 
that showed his concern whether people had anything 
to eat or not? 

The feeding of the 5,000. 

Yes, that is right, and another miracle where he 
fed the four thousand. 

Let us read but one of these accounts to-day, the 
feeding of the five thousand, Matthew xiv. 13-21. 
(After reading the passage responsively, the leader should say:) 

What is the last word in verse twenty-one? 
"Children." 

There were girls and boys there in that crowd who 
were fed by Jesus, for he wanted them to have food as 
well as the other people. 

He cared then, and I think he cares now, when girls 
and boys are hungry. 

I want to tell you the story of a hungry little child 



Five Missionary Minutes 89 

in famine times in India. Her name was Wallie. She 
was four years old. Her parents had died, and there 
was no one to take care of her. The mission school 
was already full to overflowing with famine children, 
but each day Wallie would come to the school and ask 
the teacher, " Any one to stand for Wallie yet ? " She 
meant, has any one in England or America sent on 
fifteen dollars to take care of another little famine 
orphan ? 

Regretfully the teacher had to reply, " No," for sev- 
eral days, until finally she decided she could not refuse 
the starving little child longer. So Wallie entered the 
school, and the other girls shared with her their 
meager portion of rice for a time. 

The day Wallie entered the school a woman was 
converted across the seas, over in Canada. She wanted 
to know if there was something she could do for Christ, 
and inquired about orphan children in India. 

She had ten dollars with which she had been planning 
to buy a new coat. So she asked if she added five 
dollars more to it, whether it would not take care of 
such an orphan. " Yes, for a whole year," she was told. 
That fifteen dollars went to India, and the day it 
started was the very day the missionary took Wallie 
into the school and asked the Lord to send some one 
to stand for her. 

Adapted from article entitled, "Wallie," by 
Delia White Samuel in the Congregationalist. 

FORTY-SECOND SUNDAY 

HYMN INTRODUCTION 

FEOM GREENLAND'S ICY MOUNTAINS 

We are going to sing to-day a missionary hymn 
which is very familiar. I wonder, however, if many 
of us know the story of how it was written. 

It was written on a Saturday afternoon, May 29, 
1819, by Reginald Heber, at the request of his father- 
in-law, Dean Shipley, who was Vicar of the Church 
at Wrexham, England. The next morning a mission- 



90 Five Missionary Minutes 

ary offering was to be taken for Foreign Missions, and 
the Dean desired to have a missionary hymn appropri- 
ate for the occasion. He therefore asked his son-in- 
law, who happened to be visiting him at the time, to 
write something for them to sing in the morning. Mr. 
Heber retired to another part of the room and com- 
posed in a few moments this hymn, which has since 
become so famous. It was sung the next morning 
for the first time in the village church at Wrexham. 

Some years later Reginald Heber was appointed mis- 
sionary bishop of Calcutta, India. At the time of his 
appointment a copy of this hymn was printed in The 
Christian Observer. An American edition of this 
magazine came to the notice of Miss Mary W. Howard 
of Savannah, Georgia. She saw the great possibilities 
in the hymn, and took the words to Mr. Lowell Mason, 
that he might compose some appropriate music. At 
that time he was a bank clerk in Savannah, but later 
had a famous musical career. He composed the tune 
entitled " Missionary Hymn," which has made Bishop 
Heber's hymn so popular. It is interesting to know 
that an Englishman wrote the words and an American 
the music of this great hymn. 

Let us sing it heartily. 

Adapted from Benson, Studies of Familiar Hymns. 



FORTY-THIRD SUNDAY 

PRAYER INTRODUCTION 

A PEAYEE FOE DAVID LIVINGSTONE 

" Keep him as the apple of thine eye," " Hold him in 
the hollow of thy hand," were two prayers often ut- 
tered for David Livingstone by Mrs. Eobert Moffat, his 
mother-in-law, as he engaged in his perilous journeys in 
Africa, and was absent from his wife and family for 
months, and even years. 

Adapted from Blaikie, The Personal Life of David Liv- 
ingstone. 



Five Missionary Minutes 91 

It is a prayer which we, too, may offer for our own 

missionaries to-day. 

Note. — Mention the names of the missionaries, home and for- 
eign, in whose support the Sunday-school or church shares. 
If the Sunday-school has no such special representatives on the 
field, then the missionaries of the denomination, or those men- 
tioned by name in the denominational Prayer Cycle for the 
day and month may be remembered. 

Let us ask that in their various duties they may 
be preserved and kept safely in the hollow of God's 
hand. 

Let us all pray as Mr leads us. 

FORTY-FOURTH SUNDAY 

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT 

AN AMERICAN BRIDE IN PORTO RICO * 

BY MARION BLYTHE 

Some persons have the idea that missionaries are 

queer people with long faces. The truth is that most 

of them are the happiest, j oiliest, and finest people alive. 

Here is a witty book written by one of that kind. 

Note. — Hold the book up in view of the school and mention 
the title, An American Bride in Porto Rico. 

The author says : " I feel toward missionary work as 
the Chicago girl feels every morning when she puts 
her shoe on, ' It's a big thing, and I am glad to be 
in it.' " 

Open the volume anywhere you like, and when you 
have read a page or two, interest will compel you to 
go on. 

How Mr. and Mrs. Blythe were entertained for din- 
ner at a Porto Rican plantation is thus described. 

Note. — The following should be read with animation. 

" There were fried eggs, fried chicken that had laid 
the eggs, fried mutton, fried pork, fried beef, and 
fried bananas; egg salad, pepper salad, rice and beans 
and bread — whole loaves of it scattered about the table, 

* Published by Fleming H. Revell Co., New York. Price, $1.00. 
A book for Senior and Adult readers. 



92 Five Missionary Minutes 

but I looked helplessly about, for there was no serving- 
spoon. Finally, one of the men who had already begun 
his repast came to the rescue, and, with his own fork 
and knife, helped me most generously, and said, ' Now 
eat." 

" Only once did I feel that I would surely lose my 
grip on the situation, and that was when another 
brother, who had almost finished eating, noticed that I 
had no pork left on my plate. I had been watching 
him, and I certainly thought his knife would disappear 
with every mouthful, but he always managed to keep 
the handle in sight, and in this way to rescue the blade. 
He offered me the pork, but I thanked him and assured 
him in very bad Spanish that I had been most gener- 
ously served; but he seemed to think that I was bash- 
ful, so he arose in his chair just across the table from 
me, licked his knife all clean, and cut me another chunk 
of pork, which he, leaning across the table, deposited on 
my plate." 

What Mrs. Blythe did in this unpleasant situation 
she tells on page 135. 

FORTY-FIFTH SUNDAY 

RECRUITING FOR SERVICE BY A SCRIPTURE 
INTRODUCTION 

THEEE STATEMENTS OF JESUS KEGAEDING 
MISSIONS 

Scripture Lesson : John iv. 35 ; Matthew ix. 38 ; Mark xvi. 15 

Instead of opening our Bibles for our Scripture les- 
son to-day, let us recall from memory three statements 
of Jesus regarding Missions. Each verse indicates 
what we are to do with different parts of our body. 

One day he and his disciples were near Jacob's Well, 
in Samaria, and he told his disciples to do something 
with their eyes. Can you give me the verse — John 
iv. 35? 

" Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, 
that they are white already unto harvest." 



Five Missionary Minutes 93 

What were they to do with their eyes? 
Lift them up and look about. 

Maybe there are some Boy Scouts here. If so, when 
you are off in the country trying to locate some place 
in the distance, you shade your eyes with your hand 
and look steadfastly over the situation until you have 
found what you are looking for. You don't just take 
a hasty glance, but a thorough look. That is what 
Jesus wants us to do here in our Sunday-school, to look 
over our (village, town, or city), and see some fields 
that need harvesting; some girls and boys, men and 
women, who ought to be won to Christ through our 
church and Sunday-school. 

Now, if sheaves are to be gathered in the harvest- 
field, what are needed? 

Reapers, of course— workers, laborers. 

In order to get them, Jesus told his disciples there 
was something they must do, that you and I do morn- 
ing and evening on our knees. What is that? Mat- 
thew ix. 38. 

" Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, 
that he send forth laborers into his harvest." 

There is a third thing those disciples were to do, — 
on their feet. Do you know what it was? 

Go. 

Yes, Mark xvi. 15 tells us where they were to go, 
and what they were to do. Let us repeat it together : 

" Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
gospel to the whole creation." 



HAVE YOU FOUND THIS VOLUME USEFUL? 

If so, send fifty cents to your Mission Board or to 
the Missionary Education Movement, 156 Fifth Ave- 
nue, New York City, for a postpaid copy of the Second 
Series of 

FIVE MISSIONAEY MINUTES 

MATEKIAL FOE BEIEF MISSIONARY 
EXEECISES 

In the Sunday School 

FOE FIFTY-TWO SUNDAYS IN THE YEAR 

by 

GEOEGE H. TEULL 

This second volume contains all new material. In 
addition to Scripture Introductions, Prayer Introduc- 
tions, Hymn Introductions, and material for Temper- 
ance Sundays and Special Days found so valuable in 
the First Series, the Second Series has some entirely 
new features, such as Map Drills, Stories, Impersona- 
tions, etc. 

o 

The Second Series of 

FIVE MISSIONAEY MINUTES 

Eeady Summer of 1913 



94 



Five Missionary Minutes 95 

FORTY-SIXTH SUNDAY 

FIELD LETTERS 

TYPICAL ONES FROM GREAT MISSIONARIES 

Note. — Below are given several letters written by eminent 
missionaries on the field to their children at home. The letters 
chosen are adapted to younger children and they are typical 
of many such letters which may be found in missionary biog- 
raphies. Such letters reveal the concern the missionaries on the 
field have for their children from whom they are separated. 
When parting from his children David Livingstone wrote to the 
London Missionary Society : " Our children ought to have both 
the sympathies and prayers of those at whose bidding we be- 
come strangers for life." Only one of the letters should be used 
on a single Sunday. 

Leader — We have a missionary letter to-day written 
by a very great man to a very little girl, David Liv- 
ingstone to his little daughter Agnes, whom he some- 
times called " Nannie," five years old. He had just 
said good^by to her at Cape Town about two weeks 
before, when, with the other children and her mother, 
she had sailed for England, while her father turned 
back to continue his great work of exploration in the 
Dark Continent. 

Cape Tuwx, 11th May, 1852. 
My dear Agxes : 

This is your own little letter. Mamma will read it 
to you, and you will hear her just as if I were speaking 
to you, for the words which I write are those which she 
will read. 1 am still at Cape Town. You know you 
left me there when you all went into the big ship and 
sailed away. \Yell, I shall leave Cape Town soon. 
Malatsi has gone for the oxen, and then I shall go 
away back to Sebituane's country, and see Seipone and 
Meriye, who gave you the beads and fed you with milk 
and honey. I shall not see you again for a long time, 
and I am very sorry. I have no Nannie now. I have 
given you back to Jesus, your Friend — your Papa who 
is in heaven. He is above you, but he is always near 
you. When we ask things from him, that is praying 
to him; and if you do or say a naughty thing ask him 
to pardon you, and bless you, and make you one of his 



96 Five Missionary Minutes 

children. Love Jesus much, for he loves you, and he 
came and died for you. Oh, how good Jesus is! I 
love him, and I shall love him as long as I live. You 
must love him too, and you must love your brothers 
and mamma, and never tease them or be naughty, for 
Jesus does not like to see naughtiness. Good-by, my 
dear Nannie. 

D. Livingstone. 

From Blaikie, The Personal Life of David Livingstone. 

Leader — We are to have read to us to-day a portion 
of a letter from the great African missionary, David 
Livingstone, to four of his children in Scotland. He 
had bidden them all good-by on April 23, 1852, when 
they sailed for England from Cape Town, so he had not 
seen them for nearly a year and a half. 

Linyanti, 2d October, 1853. 
My dear Kobert, Agnes, and Thomas and Oswell : 

Here is another little letter for you all. I should like 
to see you much more than write to you, and speak with 
my tongue rather than with my pen; but we are far 
from each other — very, very far. 

My dear children, take him (Jesus) as your Guide, 
your Helper, your Friend, and Savior through life. 
Whatever you are troubled about ask him to keep you. 
Our God is good. We thank him that we have such a 
Savior and Friend as he is. Now you are little, but 
you will not always be so, hence you must learn to read 
and write and work. All clever men can both read 
and write, and Jesus needs clever men to do his work. 
Would you like to serve him? Well, you must learn 
now, and not get tired learning. After some time you 
will like learning better than playing, but you must 
play, too, in order to make your bodies strong and be 
able to serve Jesus. 

I hope you are all kind to mamma. I saw a poor 
woman in a chain with many others, up at the Barotse. 
She had a little child, and both she and her child were 
very thin. See how kind Jesus was to you. No one 
can put you in chains unless you become bad. If, how- 



Five Missionary Minutes 97 

ever, you learn bad ways, beginning only by saying bad 
words or doing little bad things, Satan will have you 
in the chains of sin, and you will be hurried on in his 
bad ways till you are put into the dreadful place which 
God hath prepared for hirn and all who are like him. 
Pray to Jesus to deliver you from sin, give you new 
hearts, and make you his children. Kiss Zouga, 
mamma, and each other for me. 

Your affectionate father, 

D. Livingstone. 
From Blaikie, The Personal Life of David Livingstone. 

Leader — One of the really great missionary explorers 
in Africa on the Kongo was George Grenfell, the Cor- 
nishman. He arrived in the Dark Continent in Janu- 
ary, 1875, not quite two years after the death of David 
Livingstone, Africa's most noted missionary explorer. 
Grenfell spent thirty-one years in Africa. 

We are to hear to-day one of the letters which he 
wrote home to his daughter, Carrie. 

Steamship Goodwill, near Mswata, Upper Kongo, 
To Carrie : August 14, 1896. 

We are very glad to know you are really trying to be 
a good girl. It is not easy, dear Carrie, is it? Some 
of the young folk on the station at Bolobo are trying to 
follow Jesus, and they find it very hard. Loleka (I 
send you his picture) has just written me a nice little 
letter, saying that after a real hard try Satan had got 
the better of him once more, but still he wanted to be a 
disciple. I saw him for a little while before I left, and 
I hope encouraged him to go on his way, looking to 
Jesus to help him, and to give his heart entirely to him; 
for if he kept even one corner of his heart for himself he 
would be sure to fall again. 

Jesus wants every bit of us, and will be content with 
nothing less, and if we only just put ourselves unreserv- 
edly into his hands the enemy won't have the chance 
to overcome us. The Good Shepherd is able to keep 
all his sheep ! Loleka is almost a young man now. He 
was quite a little boy when he came on board the Peace 



98 Five Missionary Minutes 

first (I believe you were on board at that time). He 
was afraid his old master was at the point of death, and 
that he would be buried with him, so he cried for me to 
ransom him. 

I think I gave about three hundred yards of brass 
wire to secure his freedom; but even when the price 
was paid he would not trust himself on shore again, 
though we stayed at the beach some three or four days. 
He is a fine manly fellow, and I am hopeful he may 
turn out a great help to us, for he' has a great deal of 
influence among the young people round us — is quite a 
leader among them, in fact. You must pray for him 
and for Dot, and for several others, who, like them and 
like yourself, are trying to follow the Lord Jesus. It 
is not easy work anywhere, and it seems especially hard 
here in Kongo. 

Your mother and I are both very glad to know your 
heart is bent upon being a servant of the Lord Jesus. 
Don't be afraid, dear Carrie, to let your light shine. 
It may not be very much you can do, but you can al- 
ways stand on the right side, and then, though your own 
light may not be very bright, you will reflect some of 
the brightness of our Master. 

Yours affectionately, 

George Grenfell. 

From Hawker, The Life of George Grenfell. 

Leader — James Gilmour was a pioneer missionary to 
Mongolia from 1870 to 1891. When his wife died in 
1885, he had to send his two sons, James and William, 
back to Scotland. They were about seven and nine 
years old. He wrote to them frequent letters, express- 
ing his desire that they might grow up to be useful 
men and become missionaries. He tells them that he 
is praying for them and says : " Sometimes when I am 
writing a letter to you, and come to the foot of the 
page and want to turn over the leaf, I don't take blot- 
ting-paper and blot it, but kneel down and pray while 
it is drying." 

We shall hear one of these letters, written from 
Peking, January 21, 1887. 



Five Missionary Minutes 99 

My dear Sons Jimmie and Willie: 

I am soon now going again to Mongolia, and want 
to write you before I go. I am well. I hope you got 
better all right. 

The other night when I went out, Dr. Pritchard's cat 
got shut in my room, and tore a lot of my paper win- 
dows to get out. I had to paste them up with news- 
paper. The cat heard me, and came to the outside of 
the window, and kept poking her paw through the place 
I was pasting up. Funny old cat, wasn't she ? 

The Chinese New-year is nearly here now. People 
are so busy buying lots of things. They are buying 
paper gods, too, to paste up in their houses. Pray for 
us, that we may be able to turn them to the true God 
and to Jesus. 

All the children in Peking were at a Christmas-tree 
a few days ago, and got some nice presents. 

You must not be surprised if you don't get any let- 
ters for a while after this. I may not have a way to 
send them ; but be sure I'll write you a long letter with 
a lot of things in it, and send it by the first opportunity. 
Do not forget me. Pray for me. My dear sons, I pray 
for you much and often. May Jesus bless you! 

I would like to see you in school. Tell me about it 
and about the teachers. I am glad you have picture- 
books. 

Now, my sons, tell all your things to Jesus. Tell 
your schoolmates about Jesus. Don't be friends with 
bad boys. Be friends with the boys who love Jesus. 

Your loving father, 

James Gilmour. 

From James Gilmour and His Boys. 

Using the same introduction as above, the leader may 
say: 

Leader — We shall hear to-day one of these letters 
written May 10, 1887. 
My dear Sons : 

In the inn here there is a hen with nine little 
chickens. I think there are nine; they are very dif- 
ficult to count, they run about and mix themselves up 
so. I notice that the old hen brings them home early 



100 Five Missionary Minutes 

in the afternoon, and goes with them into a place where 
people's feet cannot disturb them. They are so pretty, 
too. One little one looked out from under his mother's 
feathers so prettily the other evening till he got sleepy, 
then he went inside. Her feathers seemed so soft and 
warm and covering. The mother is so fierce when any 
other hen comes near them to pick up food. She 
simply rushes at the other hen, and it has to go off 
flying in terror. The old hen actually attacked two lit- 
tle pigs because they would come about her chickens. 
She is so intelligent, too. When I was feeding her 
and her chickens in our room the two pigs came in. A 
Chinaman scared them off, and the hen seemed to 
know he was not chasing her. She stood still, looking 
so pleased. The chickens understand her calls per- 
fectly. When she finds food she utters one kind of a 
call, and they all run to eat. When there is danger she 
utters another call, and they all run for shelter. 

God is to us like a hen to her chickens. He wants 
to provide for us, to protect us in danger, to love us 
and shelter us. He keeps calling to us from time to 
time. There are times when the hen cannot protect 
her chickens, but God can always protect us. Boys, 
the only danger in the world is in not listening to God's 
calls. Every time I saw the hen call, her chickens ran 
towards her. If they had not come she would have 
been distressed. God loves us. If we do not go to him 
when he calls, he must be distressed. Jesus said of 
those who in the old time disobeyed God, " How often 
would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not ! " 

Your loving father, 

James Gilmour. 

From James Gilmour and His Boys. 
FORTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

GEIT WINS AN EDUCATION 

Booker T. Washington, the founder of Tuskegee In- 
stitute in Alabama, where hundreds of Negroes have 



Five Missionary Minutes 101 

received industrial training, was born a slave in Frank- 
lin County, Virginia (now West Virginia). He be- 
gan life amid very discouraging surroundings. 

After the war he moved with the other children and 
his mother to Maiden, a small place in West Virginia, 
about five miles from Charleston, and the center of the 
salt industry. Here he got hold of the first book he had 
ever owned, a blue-back speller. He was very anxious 
to be able to read, and so, without a teacher, he learned 
the alphabet. Often at four o'clock in the morning he 
had to be at work at the salt furnace, and later he was 
employed in a coal-mine, so he got but little oppor- 
tunity for school. But amid many discouragements 
he never let go his determination to secure an educa- 
tion. He thus describes his struggles. 

Note. — The following may be read with animation and dis- 
tinctly. 

" One day, while at work in the coal-mine, I hap- 
pened to overhear two miners talking about a great 
school for colored people somewhere in Virginia. 

" In the darkness of the mine I noiselessly crept as 
close as I could to the two men who were talking. As 
they went on describing the school, it seemed to me that 
it must be the greatest place on earth. I resolved at 
once to go to that school, although I had no idea where 
it was, or how many miles away, or how I was going 
to reach it; I remembered only that I was on fire con- 
stantly with one ambition, and that was to go to Hamp- 
ton. This thought was with me day and night. 

" The distance from Maiden to Hampton is about 
five hundred miles. By walking, begging rides both in 
wagons and in the cars, in some way, after a number 
of days, I reached the city of Bichmond, Virginia, 
about eighty-two miles from Hampton. When I 
reached there, tired, hungry, and dirty, it was late in 
the night. I was completely out of money. I must 
have walked the streets till after midnight. I was tired, 
I was hungry, I was everything but discouraged. Just 
about the time when I reached extreme physical ex- 
haustion, I came upon a portion of a street where the 
board sidewalk was considerably elevated. I waited for 



102 Five Missionary Minutes 

a few minutes, till I was sure that no passers-by could 
see me, and then crept under the sidewalk and lay for 
the night upon the ground, with my satchel of cloth- 
ing for a pillow." 

The next morning he secured work for a few days, 
and finally reached Hampton with just fifty cents left 
with which to begin his education. 

He then continues: 

"As soon as possible after reaching the grounds of 
the Hampton Institute, I presented myself before the 
head teacher for assignment to a class. Having been 
so long without proper food, a bath, and change of 
clothing, I did not, of course, make a very favorable 
impression upon her, and I could see at once that there 
were doubts in her mind about the wisdom of admitting 
me as a student. I felt that I could hardly blame her 
if she got the idea that I was a worthless loafer or 
tramp. For some time she did not refuse to admit me, 
neither did she decide in my favor, and I continued to 
linger about her, and to impress her in all the ways I 
could with my worthiness. In the meantime I saw her 
admitting other students, and that added greatly to my 
discomfort, for I felt, deep down in my heart, that I 
could do as well as they, if I could only get a chance 
to show what was in me. 

" After some hours had passed, the head teacher said 
to me: c The adjoining recitation-room needs sweep- 
ing. Take the broom and sweep it.' 

" It occurred to me at once that here was my chance. 
Never did I receive an order with more delight. 

" I swept the recitation-room three times. Then I 
got a dusting-cloth, and I dusted it four times. All the 
woodwork around the walls, every bench, table, and 
desk, I went over four times with my dusting-cloth. 
Besides, every piece of furniture had been moved and 
every closet and corner in the room had been thor- 
oughly cleaned. I had the feeling that in a large meas- 
ure my future depended upon the impression I made 
upon the teacher in the cleaning of that room. When 
I was through, I reported to the head teacher. She was 



Five Missionary Minutes 103 

a i Yankee ' woman, who knew just where to look for 

dirt. She went into the room and inspected the floor 

and closets; then she took her handkerchief and rubbed 

it on the woodwork about the walls, and over the table 

and benches. When she was unable to find one bit of 

dirt on the floor, or a particle of dust on any of the 

furniture, she quietly remarked, i I guess you will do 

to enter this institution.' 

" I was one of the happiest souls on earth. The 

sweeping of that room was my college examination, and 

never did any youth pass an examination for entrance 

into Harvard or Yale that gave him more genuine 

satisfaction. I have passed several examinations since 

then, but I have always felt that this was the best one 

I ever passed." 

From Washington, Up from Slavery. 

FORTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY 
TEMPERANCE ITEM 

A SOUTH AFKICAN CHIEF ADVOCATES 
TEMPEEANCE 

Khama was the name of a native chief of one of 
the tribes of the Bechuanas, in South Africa. He 
grew up as a boy in his father's court, in the midst 
of the grossest savagery. His father was both chief 
and sorcerer. Theft, treachery, and murder were 
every-day occurrences. Witchcraft settled the affairs, 
both of the state and of the individual life. Before 
Khama became king he was converted, through per- 
sonal contact with his friend, John Mackenzie, the 
missionary statesman of South Africa. He soon de- 
veloped such forbearance, gentleness, patience, and 
dignity, and was so steadfast and statesmanlike in his 
dealings, that he was known among all his white friends 
as the " Alfred the Great " of South Africa. Khama 
soon determined to put an end to native beer drink- 
ing, with all of its evils, and also determined to pro- 
hibit the white man's drink from the boundaries of his 
own state. The white traders and liquor dealers 



104 Five Missionary Minutes 

violated his laws, smuggled goods, and defied the most 
strenuous legislation. Warning followed warning, still 
the law was violated. Finally, tried beyond further en- 
durance, the king gave an ultimatum in a public 
speech to all the liquor dealers and traders in his 
domain. It is this speech that shows his strength of 
character and reveals a life of the finest temper. 

"Take everything that you have. Take all that is yours and go. 
I am trying to lead my people to act according to that Word of God 
which we have received from you white people, and you show them 
an example of wickedness such as we never knew. You, the people 
of the Word of God ! Go ! Take your cattle and leave my town, 
and never come back again ! " 

On the ground of old friendship one dealer pleaded 
for pity. Khama flashed back: 

"Friendship ! You know better than any one how I hate this 
drink. Don't talk to me about friendship. You are my worst enemy. 
I had a right to expect that you would uphold my laws, and you 
bring in the stuff for others to break them. You ask for pity, and 
you show me no pity. No ; I have had enough of such pity. It is 
my duty to have pity on my people, over whom God has placed me, 
and I am going to show them pity to-day. That is my duty to God. " 
And the drink went. 

In a state paper to the British administration he 
wrote : 

" It is better for me that I should lose my country than that it 
should be flooded with drink. Lobengula* never gives me a sleep- 
less night, but to fight against drink is to fight against demons, not 
against men. I dread the white man's drink more than all the 
assagais* of the Metabele, which kill men's bodies, and it is quickly 
over ; but drink puts devils into men and destroys both bodies and 
souls forever. Its wounds never heal. I pray your Honor never to 
ask me to open even a little door to drink. " 

Quoted from Missionary Comments and Illustrations, and 
Dennis, Christian Missions and Social Progress. 

* Lobengula (Lo-ben-gu'-la) was the chief of the Matabele, north of 
Khama's country. 

* Pronounce, as'-a-gy. An African spear. 



Five Missionary Minutes 105 

FORTY-NINTH SUNDAY 

PRAYER INTRODUCTION 

TALKING WITH GOD 

Kamil was the name of a Moslem young man, who 
one day came to Dr. H. H. Jessup of Beirut, Syria, 
seeking instruction in the Christian faith. He was 
hungry and thirsty for truth. 

" How do you pray ? " he asked Dr. Jessup. In re- 
ply, the latter knelt down and poured out his soul to 
God. Kamil knelt beside him and repeated the words 
after him. " I never heard this kind of a prayer be- 
fore," he said. " It is talking with God. We repeat 
words five times a day ! " For it is a Mohammedan 
custom to repeat prayers thus frequently, and to bow 
down wherever one may happen to be, with the face 
turned toward Mecca. " But we have no such words 
as these," continued Kamil. 

The young Moslem was right, prayer is not just re- 
peating set words, it is, rather, talking with God. 

Let us talk to him now. 

Adapted from article entitled, " Kamil, the Modern Paul," 
by Belle M. Brain, in The Missionary Review of the 
World. 

FIFTIETH SUNDAY 

SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION 

AN ANCIENT AND A MODEEN DKOUGHT 
BEOKEN 

Scripture Lesson : 1 Kings xviii. 25-46 

Leader — A modern striking parallel, in some par- 
ticulars, to the breaking of the drought in Israel in the 
time of Elijah and Ahab was the breaking of a drought 
in China in May, 1909, which is told as follows by Eev. 
C. E. Scott: 

Note. — This material should be read distinctly and with 
feeling. 



106 Five Missionary Minutes 

This last month as we have been going about among 
the farmers in the country we have seen village priests 
in the temples, standing before the ugly, mud gods, 
fiercely beating a tattoo on the temple drums, mouthing 
rapid incantations of whose meaning they were ig- 
norant. All about them, kneeling on the earthen floor, 
were the hard-working, distressed, long-suffering peas- 
ants. At the sound of a silver-toned bell, struck by the 
priests, each suppliant knocked his head on the ground. 
Why this frenzied anxiety? The crops are drying up, 
starvation is ahead ; and the " Old Dragon," who spouts 
rain from his maw, is being placated that he may have 
mercy. In the temple yards are special booths and im- 
promptu shrines. The tables where punk-incensers 
send up their sweet ( ?) incense, are loaded with food 
to bribe the favor of clay deities. The lintels of minia- 
ture temples are pasted with fresh mottoes reminding 
the idols of their clemency, while they themselves are 
clad in clean paper dresses and aprons. Stretched 
across the streets of big markets and little hamlets, 
flutter ragged paper banners recalling deities to their 
duty. Processions of youth and strong men and halt- 
ing patriarchs — their heads wreathed in suggestive 
green leaves, resembling in this respect an ancient 
Dionysiac festival — wail their need. And all the while, 
the idols* having ears that hear not sat within, unre- 
sponsive, repulsive, leering. 

But there was a little party of us in their midst who 
believed in the living God. We had come many miles 
to this heathen section teeming with farmer-villages to 
pray with some feeble Christians. And together we 
besought the real " Cloud Compeller " to open his 
clouds, and make them drop fatness, that he might be 
magnified on the earth, and the people saved. For five 
days we pleaded the promise, Matthew xxi. 22. 

Will some one please read it? 

Then a native elder, one of the most godly, able, and 
solid elders I have ever known personally, and a suc- 
cessful business man in our local church, said : " I shall 
rent a wheelbarrow to-night, and with my wife leave 



Five Missionary Minutes 107 

early to-morrow morning to get to Tsingtau, if possible, 
before the rain sets in ! " Truly an Abrahamic faith ! 
" And this is the boldness which we have toward him, 
that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hear- 
eth us," etc. 1 John v. 14, 15. 

You can imagine the moral caliber of this man from 
the fact of his leaving his big business in Tsingtau, 
taking a three days' barrow journey just to pray with 
us and attend to the Lord's business, in that neglected 
section; and also from the fact that after one of 
our missionaries had taken him as a beggar boy and 
put him through school and college, this elder had, on 
his own suggestion, paid back all that money with big 
interest. Three days after he left — the time it would 
take him on the road — the rain came, copious and 
abundant. Verily James was right : " The supplication 
of a righteous man availeth much in its working." 

Leader — Let us read now, for our Scripture lesson 
to-day, the account of the breaking of the drought in 
Israel, 1 Kings xviii. 25-46. 

FIFTY-FIRST SUNDAY 
FIELD ITEM 

A NAVAJO KITE BETWEEN SUNSET AND 
DAWN 

It was the night of August 17, 1907. In the log hut 
or hogan on the prairie lay Bah-he, a young Navajo* 
woman, ill with St. Vitus's dance. Her father had 
summoned the shaman or Indian medicine-man. It 
was the fifth successive night that he had performed 
his peculiar rites in the hope of effecting a cure. A 
score of Indians crowded inside the hogan singing a 
wailing song, but Bah-he was no better. 

Four piles of dried cedar bark were lighted in the 
center of the hogan. Bah-he was placed in the space 
between the fires, and smoke filled the room, becoming 
almost unendurable. As the fires burned down, the 

* Pronounce, Na'-va-ho. 



108 Five Missionary Minutes 

noise of the singing continued. When each pile of 
bark had been consumed to ashes, a woman arose, gath- 
ered them up and placed them in the sacred basket, 
which the medicine-man held in his hands. The black 
ashes were then mixed with water, becoming half paste 
and half liquid. 

Two women then approached the sick girl as she 
sat tossing her arms about, almost suffocated and 
tormented beyond endurance. They covered her body 
with the black liquid and then, one by one, all the 
women in the hogan smeared their feet and hands and 
faces. 

Little girls, down to the smallest, followed in line 
after their mothers. The oldest woman, a great-grand- 
mother wrinkled and bent, painted more of her body 
than any of the rest. With other incantations the 
grim old medicine-man sprinkled a pinch of his herbs 
over the invalid's body. Then, with their fingers, while 
the song kept on, several persons brushed red coals 
from the fire to half a dozen places in the room, so 
that all might be in reach to wave with their hands a 
stream of curling smoke over their faces. The medi- 
cine-man then made certain gestures, and, muttering, 
prepared a drink in the bowl of a gourd. This he gave 
to Bah-he to drink. The ceremony was over. 

They wrapped the invalid in blankets and gave her 
to the care of the women, but far into the night the 
exciting noise continued. Women brought in steam- 
ing coffee and bread. Over the feast there was laugh- 
ter, joking, and smoking, both by the men and the 
women. Poor Bah-he could get no rest and quiet for 
her poor tired body and brain. 

Any Christian eyewitness would have prayed the 
Lord to bring her his peace and, to the minds of her 
people, his light. 

Adapted from Vogt, " Bah-he and the Shaman." 



Five Missionary Minutes 109 

FIFTY-SECOND SUNDAY 

HYMN INTRODUCTION 

HOW FIEM A FOUNDATION 

At the time of the outbreak against foreigners in 
China, in 1900, Tientsin was one of the places where 
the lives of the missionaries were greatly endangered 
because of the fury of the fanatical Boxers. One day, 
shells were hissing through the air, coming danger- 
ously near to the mission residences. Finally one of 
these shells struck the house and wrecked a portion 
of the veranda. Two of the missionaries seated near 
the front door were slightly injured, but fortunately not 
seriously. 

That night as the little company gathered to tear 
bandages in the moonlight, and talked of the wonder- 
ful way in which God had protected them, some one 
started the hymn, " How firm a foundation." The 
second stanza of this hymn certainly was especially 
appropriate under such circumstances, and brought 
great comfort to the missionaries in their distress. 

" Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed ; 
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid ; 
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, 
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand." 

Let us sing this hymn to-day in the same spirit 

in which we might have sung it, if we had been with 

that little company of missionaries in Tientsin in 

1900. 

Reported by Miss Frances B. Patterson, formerly of 
Tientsin, China. 



Part HI 

MATERIAL FOR SPECIAL DAYS 

SUNDAY NEAREST NEW YEAR 

THE KOREAN WAY OF TURNING OVEE A 
NEW LEAF ON NEW YEAE 

The idea of beginning* the New-year aright is some- 
times expressed in America by saying one will turn 
over a new leaf. A man in Korea with a very quar- 
relsome disposition determined to get the better of it at 
New-year. 

When the New-year came, late at night he was in the 
courtyard flying a kite on which he had first written, 
" Evil disposition, impatience, bad words, street 
fights," etc. It was so dark that no kite could be 
seen; but when he had run the string out to its full 
length, he cut it and let it go, imagining that so he 
had rid himself of his enemies and could begin the 
year with new courage. 

Do you think this is a successful way to get rid of 
faults? Can some one repeat the ninth verse of the 
first chapter of the the First Epistle of John, which 
tells the only sure way? 

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and 
righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness." 

Adapted from Gale, Korean Sketches. 

EASTER SUNDAY 

SUWAKTHA'S FIRST EASTER DAY 

Atama,* one of India's little children, was dead. Su- 
wartha,t her mother, was heartbroken, for she loved 
* Pronounce, Ah'-ta-ma. t Pronounce, Su-warth'-a. 

110 



Five Missionary Minutes 111 

her little one as dearly as any mother in England or 
America ever loved her child. She had never heard the 
Easter message; she knew nothing of the risen Christ. 
She was a Hindu, and in her grief, she went to the 
temple for some word of comfort. The priest, seeing 
her, spoke roughly to her. 

" Cesspool of all evil," he began, " where is the child 
that you formerly brought with you ? " 

" Most noble ruler," said Suwartha, " the child, my 
little Atama, is dead. Yesterday I carried her in my 
arms to the burning ghat and " 

" Aha ! " laughed the priest, " that is a matter for 
rejoicing. There will be one less woman to drown men 
in the whirlpool of suspicion, and to poison them with 
the poison that looks like nectar." 

" It must be as you say," murmured Suwartha 
meekly, " but my arms are empty, and my heart is 
full of sorrow because she is gone. And I wonder, 
and wonder where her gentle spirit " 

" Her spirit, her soul ? " interrupted the priest con- 
temptuously. " She may not yet have found her soul. 
? Tis more than likely so — if women ever have a soul." 

" Oh, say not so," wailed Suwartha. " Tell me, is 
she happy ? Is her soul at rest ? " 

The priest appeared to reflect seriously for a mo- 
ment. 

"Is a toad happy?" he asked. 

"A toad?" gasped Suwartha. 

" Yes, bane of humanity, a toad, or a lizard, a dog 
or a pig, a serpent or a fish? For already the soul of 
your child may have passed into one of these. You 
will do well to be very careful in avoiding every form 
of creeping things, lest you crush your child, you 
know." 

" And when," gasped Suwartha, " when, when will 
her soul be freed from this bondage ? " 

" Oh," yawned the priest, " perhaps in ten thousand 
times ten thousand years, after she has lived as every 
form of loathsome animal, perhaps she may become a 
despicable woman again." 

Slowly, Suwartha arose and left the temple. She 



112 Five Missionary Minutes 

went to the outskirts of the city, where the day before 
she had burned the body of her child. There lay a 
heap of ashes. Suddenly it seemed that they stirred, 
and slowly there glided from them a hideous cobra. 

" Palmur ! Tat ! Palmur ! " shrieked Suwartha. 
" Atama, my darling, my child," and fell to the ground, 
convulsively grasping handfuls of dust. For she be- 
lieved that the soul of Atama had passed into the 
serpent. And this was the best that Hinduism could 
do for a mother bereaved of her child. 

After a time, Suwartha started home. On the way, 
she met a band of little children, and they were singing : 

" There's a home for little children 

Above the bright blue sky- 
Where Jesus reigns in glory 

A home of peace and joy. 
No home on earth is like it, 

Nor can with it compare; 
For every one is happy, 

Nor could be happier there." 

What could this mean? Was there hope, after all? 
Was little Atama not in the body of the snake, but 
happy somewhere? She remembered that one of her 
neighbors, Chettu,* was no longer a Hindu, but a be- 
liever in the Jesus doctrine. Going to her, she said: 

" Oh, Chettu, Chettu, I have just come from the 
burning ghats, where I carried my little Atama yes- 
terday, and out of the heap of ashes where her body 
was burned I saw a dreadful cobra writhe; and if what 
the priest of Ganesha t told me was true, the spirit of 
my darling Atama had entered into that hideous — " 

" Oh, no, no ! " interrupted Chettu eagerly. " It is 
not true; it is a lie. The soul of Atama is in the 
bosom of Jesus, the risen Savior, who loved little chil- 
dren, and took them in his arms and blessed them." 

That night, Suwartha could scarcely sleep. The 
strange, new message of life after death seemed too 
good to be true, but what comfort and peace it brought 
to the soul! The next morning was Easter Day, and 
the first faint glimmers of sunlight stole into the room. 

* Pronounce, Chet'-tu. f Pronounce, Ga-nesh'-a. 



Five Missionary Minutes 113 

It rested upon the face of Suwartha, and revealed there 
the light that shines wherever a soul lays hold of 
eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Life and 
immortality had been brought to light through the 
message of the gospel. 

Adapted from the prize story, " At Easter Dawn," by 
John M. Hull, in The Helping Hand. 

CHILDREN'S DAY 
EEECTING THE FAMILY ALTAE 

When Marcus Whitman and his wife went to the 
Oregon country, and established their new home on the 
Walla Walla River, they began on the very first day 
to observe family worship. Mrs. Whitman's beautiful 
voice attracted the Indians, who would steal up to the 
cabin to catch every sound. They could not under- 
stand the words, but they could see the face of the 
" white squaw/' and they loved her at once. 

The prayer on the first day of arrival was one of 
gratitude and thanksgiving to God for bringing them 
through many dangers of the long three-thousand-mile 
journey, across the continent, safe at last to their home 
among the Indians. 

I hope there is a family altar in every home in our 
Sunday-school. I will not ask how many there are, 
but I want every teacher and every girl and boy of our 
school to do some missionary work this week. 

I want you to take home some literature explaining 
" The Family Altar League," and show it to your 
parents. Ask them to pray about it, and bring back 
next Sunday the pledge signed. If there is already 
a family altar in your home, please bring back the 
pledge signed anyhow. 

Note. — Send to the Family Altar League, 602 Lakeside Build- 
ing, Chicago, 111., for literature and supplies. 



114 Five Missionary Minutes 

EMPIRE DAY (JULY FIRST) OR INDEPENDENCE 
DAY (JULY FOURTH) 

THE BOY WHO HONORED THE FLAG 

Leader — Let us all salute our beautiful flag to-day. 

I pledge allegiance to my flag and the country 
for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with 
liberty and justice for all. 

Note. — If the school has no flag displayed upon the wall, one 
can be borrowed for the occasion, or this introduction to the 
following incident can be changed so as to eliminate the flag 
salute. 

We love our flag, and so did little Giuseppe Rossi, a 
bright Italian boy who lived in a tenement in New 
York and went to the kindergarten. He was always 
proud to be the flag bearer in the children's games. 

One day Giuseppe was arrested and brought before 
the magistrate. An angry German woman who 
cleaned the halls in the tenement where Giuseppe lived 
was his accuser. She told how the small Italian had 
beat her with his fists, and, running at her with head 
down like a goat, had butted into her. This was more 
than Germany would stand from Italy. 

When asked to explain his conduct, Giuseppe said: 
" She clean wid da flag-a. She wipe de mud-a wid it — 
da flag-a what ever' day in school-a we make-a so," 
and Giuseppe raised his hand in salute reverently. 

Here, indeed, was budding patriotism which no 
magistrate could condemn. It was a lesson, too, to 
the woman, not to use even a tattered and worn-out 
flag as a duster and cleaning-rag. 

Adapted from Crowell, Growing Up in America. 

WORLD'S TEMPERANCE SUNDAY (SECOND 
SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER) 

BISHOP WHIPPLE AND THE INDIAN'S FIRE- 
WATER 

Bishop Whipple, who spent many years among the 
Indians in Minnesota, on one occasion attended an 



Five Missionary Minutes 115 

Indian council. lie spoke very plainly against the 
evils of the use of intoxicants. The head chief, who 
sometimes indulged in fire-water, being a cunning 
orator, rose and said : 

" You said to-day that the Great Spirit made the 
world and all the things in the world. If he did, he 
made the fire-water. Surely he will not be angry 
with his red children for drinking a little of what he 
has made." 

Bishop Whipple answered: 

" My red brother is a wise chief, but wise men some- 
times say foolish things. The Great Spirit did not 
make the fire-water. If my brother will show me a 
brook of fire-water I will drink of it with him. The 
Great Spirit made the corn and the wheat, and put 
into them that which makes a man strong. The devil 
showed the white man how to change this good food 
of God into what will make a man crazy." 

Adapted from Speer, Servants of the King. 

PEACE SUNDAY (LAST SUNDAY IN NOVEMBER) 

SWORDS BECOME PLOWSHARES AND 
SPEARS PRUNING-HOOKS 

Isaiah and Micah were contemporary prophets. Both 
of them speak of the glories of peace and declare: 
" They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and 
their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift 
up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 
any more." See Isaiah ii. 4, and Micah iv. 3. 

In the life of Stewart of Lovedale, the story is 
told of the wonderful transformation wrought by God's 
Spirit among the wild Ngoni warriors of Africa. They 
did not consider themselves men until they had shed 
blood. 

" In 1875 a group of artisans who had volunteered 
for the mission on the shores of Lake Nyasa were as- 
sembled at Birmingham, England, for a final meeting. 
One of them said : ' I am to be the blacksmith of Liv- 
ingstonia. I am to teach them ordinary blacksmith 



116 Five Missionary Minutes 

work; but, also, by God's grace, to teach them the black- 
smith work they need most, and that is to beat their 
swords into plowshares and their spears into priming- 
hooks.' " 

" In 1897 missionaries returning from that mission 
told this story : ' My friend, Robert Ross, the black- 
smith, before he went out, expressed the hope (the 
hope before mentioned), and on his way home he saw a 
field of wheat at Mwengo, which belonged to the mis- 
sion. The Ngoni were reaping it with their spears. 
Not one of their spears is now used for war. They 
have beat the iron of some of them into hoes, which 
are the native plowshares. With other spears they 
cut their grain and prune their trees. These are their 
pruning-hooks.' " 

Micah's and Isaiah's prophecies, spoken hundreds of 
years ago, have already in part been literally fulfilled. 
Adapted from Haleey, " Foreign Missions after a Century." 

SUNDAY NEAREST THANKSGIVING 
THANKSGIVING DAY IN AFKICA 

Leader — On our national Thanksgiving Day we 
thank God for his goodness. July 23, 1855, was a 
Thanksgiving Day in the heart of Africa, for it 
marked the return of David Livingstone and his 
twenty-seven faithful native followers to their own 
country, after months of perilous journeying to the 
West coast and return. 

Note. — The item may now be read clearly and with feeling. 

Livingstone in his journal says: 

" The men decked themselves in their best, for all 
had managed to preserve their suits of European cloth- 
ing, which, with their white and red caps, gave them a 
rather dashing appearance. They tried to walk like sol- 
diers, and called themselves ' my braves.' Having been 
again saluted with salvos from the women, we met the 
whole population, and having given an address on divine 
things, I told them we had come that day to thank God 



Five Missionary Minutes 117 

before them all for his mercy in preserving us from 
dangers, from strange tribes, and sicknesses. We had 
another service in the afternoon. They gave us two 
fine oxen to slaughter, and the women have supplied 
us abundantly with milk and meal. This is all gratui- 
tous, and I feel ashamed that I can make no return." 

Adapted from Blaikie, The Personal Life of David Liv- 
ingstone. 

SUNDAY NEAREST CHRISTMAS 

CHRISTMAS AN UNKNOWN DAY TO A 
MISSOURI SETTLER 

There are people even in the United States who are 
ignorant of the meaning of Christmas. A Sunday- 
school missionary in the mountains of southeastern 
Missouri was traveling in one of the isolated parts of 
that region and relates this experience: 

" One night after supper with a family of six, the 
c Old Woman ' (as she was called) said that she wanted 
me to come into the other room and sit around the 
fireplace with them, that ' Dad ' wanted to ask me some 
questions. We all filed into the next room, immedi- 
ately in front of the fire, with the family forming the 
rest of the semicircle, Dad, on the right, leaning up 
against the mantel, and the oldest boy on his opposite 
side (this young man of twenty could neither read 
nor write, and had never seen a railroad). Dad opened 
up : ' I wish you would explain this Christmas business 
to us. A year ago in December, our neighbors over 
here, got a box from the East, and they called it a 
Christmas box, and they invited us over and gave us 
candy and lots of good things to eat, and some cards 
that had " Christmas Greetings " on them. I guess 
some of them are around here yet, ain't they, Old 
Woman ? 

" i Well, we asked them to tell us what they meant 
by Christmas, but they couldn't tell us very well, and 
the Old Woman 'low'd you'd know; so go to it and ex- 
plain the whole business. I don't care nuthin about 
it, but these kids just run me crazy about it." 



118 Five Missionary Minutes 

And this is right here in the midst of Christian 
civilization and within twenty-five miles of the rail- 
road, in the State of Missouri. 

From a report by the Rev. W. E. Stevenson, formerly a 
Sunday-school missionary in western Missouri, under 
.the Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath 
School Work. 

SUNDAY NEAREST CHRISTMAS 
SANTA GLAUS IN KOKEA 

Santa Glaus in America and Santa Glaus in Korea 
are two very different beings. In Korea he is called 
Angwangi* and he is supposed to be an old man 
who lives in the upper air. Like the Santa Glaus in 
America, he brings gifts, but of a very different kind, 
and he presents them at New-year instead of Christ- 
mas. 

There is not a girl or boy, man or woman, in Korea 
who is glad when Angwangi comes around. Every- 
body fears him, for he is a villainous old fiend, whose 
gifts are typhus fever, cholera, leprosy, and other 
diseases. 

Instead of wearing his shoes inside the house, the 
Korean leaves them outside the door. Angwangi comes 
down on New-year's eve and tries them on, leaving 
some memento of his visit. Now nobody wants any 
of Angwangi's gifts, so one plan after another was 
tried to prevent his leaving any. 

This is the one that the Koreans believe is most 
successful. A common flour sieve is left beside the 
shoe mat on New-year's eve. As Angwangi has a 
mania for counting the meshes in these sieves, his at- 
tention is at once drawn to them the moment he sees 
one outside the house. He begins counting, and soon 
forgets everything else. Before he is aware, daylight 
has come, and with it Angwangi's opportunity to scat- 
ter disease and pestilence for the New-year is gone. 

Note. — It will be well to have a flour sieve to show to the 
school as the above story is told. 

Adapted from Gale, Korean Sketches. 
* PronouDce, Ang-wang'-i. 



INDEX 

MATERIAL FOR FIFTY-TWO SUNDAYS AND 

MATERIAL FOR SPECIAL DAYS 

CLASSIFIED BY TOPICS 

I. Book Announcements PAGE 

Adventures with Four -Footed Folk (Home and 

Foreign Mission Volume) .... 82 
An American Bride in Porto Rico (Home Mis- 
sion Volume) .91 

Dozen to the Sea (Home Mission Volume) . 61 
The Days of Jane (Foreign Mission Volume) . 38 

II. Field Items 

A Dramatic Close to a Prayer Meeting (Home 

Missions) 27 

A Laos Evangelist Tears His Bible in Pieces . 85 
A Navajo Rite Between Sunset and Dawn 

(Home Missions) 107 

An Appeal that Brought the Church in Honan 

to Independence (China) .... 83 
An Immigrant's Life Story (Home Missions) . 67 
An Indian Defends the Bible (Home Missions) 33 
Bible Study under Difficulties (Brazil) . . 73 
Grit Wins an Education (Negro, Home Mis- 
sions) 100 

How an African Witch Doctor was Put out 

of Business 34 

Idolatry Transplanted in North America 

(Home Missions) 87 

The Cooking Stove in Davy's Head (Home 

Missions) 43 

The Romantic Story of the First Foreign Mis- 

sionaries of the Korean Church ... 59 
Treating Dyspepsia in Korea .... 30 
119 



120 Index 

III. Field Letters PAGE 

How to present extracts from such letters 
illustrated by correspondence from 

Alaska 40 

Africa 95-97 

Canada . . ■ . . . . .76 

China 62 

Mongolia ...... .98,99 

IV. Giving 

How the native Christians give. Illustrative 
incidents from 

Alaska , 45 

Africa 45 

China .46,47 

India . . . . . . . .48 

Korea . . . . . . . .50,51 

Laos . . . . . . .48 

Southern Mountains in the United States . 49 
' 1 K i n g d o m Day ' ' — Annual Subscription 
Pledge Day 54 

Report on Missionary Investments. The Boy 
Who Wanted to Know about the Returns . 79 

Why I should Give to Missions — Seven Word 
Pictures 52 



Hymn Introductions 

All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name (Africa) 
From Greenland's Icy Mountains (General) 
How Firm a Foundation (China) . 
Onward, Christian Soldiers (General) 
Speed Away, Speed Away, on Your Mission 

of Light (General) .... 
Throw Out the Life Line (Home Missions) 



30 

89 

109 

65 

36 

75 



VI. Prayer Introductions 

A Prayer for David Livingstone (Africa) . 90 

1 ' Kedo-hapsata"— Let Us Pray (Korea) . . 81 
Repeating and Praying the Lord's Prayer 

(Porto Rico) 28 

Talking with God (Syria) .... 105 

The Lord's Prayer Amended (General) . . 35 



Index 121 

VII. Recruiting for Service page 

A Boy Follows His Dollar to the Field (India) 57 

A Gift of Days (Korea) 56 

Hymn Introduction — Speed Away, Speed 

Away on Your Mission of Light (General) . 36 
Scripture Introduction — Three Statements of 

Jesus Regarding Missions (General) . . 92 

Utilizing Waste Material (General) ... 70 

VIII. Scripture Introductions 

Genesis i. 1; John iii. 16 — The Verses that Led 
to Neesima's Conversion (Japan) . . 25 

Numbers xxxii. 23; Proverbs xxviii. 13 — The 
Influence of a Stolen Bible (India) . . 73 

1 Kings xviii. 25-46 — An Ancient and a Mod- 
ern Drought Broken (China) . . . 105 

Psalm xxxiv. 4-7; Psalm cxxiv — Psalms of the 
Besieged at Peking (China) . . .80 

Psalm xci — Facing Death Without Flinching 
(China) 29 

Isaiah liii. 3-7; John iii. 14-18 — Hearing the 
Crucifixion Story for the First Time (Home 
Missions) 69 

Matt, xiv. 13-21— Feeding the Hungry (India) 88 

Matt, xxviii. 19, 20 — A Command and a 
Promise (Africa) 31 

John iv. 35; Matt. ix. 38; Markxvi. 15 — Three 
Statements of Jesus Regarding Missions 
(General) . 92 

IX. Special Days and Occasions in the Sunday School 

Children's Day. Erecting the Family Altar 
(General) 113 

Christmas. Christmas an Unknown Day to 

a Missouri Settler 117 

Santa Claus in Korea 118 

Easter Sunday. Suwartha's First Easter 
Day (India) 110 

Empire Day (July First, Canada) or Inde- 
pendence Day (July Fourth, United 
States). The Boy Who Honored the Flag. 114 



122 Index 

PAGE 

New Year. The Korean Way of Turning 
Over a New Leaf on New Year . . . 110 

Thanksgiving Day. A Thanksgiving Day 
in Central Africa 116 

World's Peace Sunday (Last Sunday in 
November). Swords Become Plowshares 
and Spears Pruning Hooks (Africa) . . 115 

World's Temperance Sunday (Second Sun- 
day in November). Bishop Whipple and 
the Indian's Fire- Water (Home Missions) . 114 

X. Temperance Items 

A South African Chief Advocates Temperance 103 
Bishop Whipple and the Indian's Fire-Water 

(Home Missions) 114 

Indians Whom Fire-Water Could Not Tempt 

(Home Missions) 84 

Where Liquor is Currency and Children are 

Pawned for Drink (Africa) .... 66 



HAVE YOU SEEN THE REVISED EDITION OF 

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(By GEORGE H. TRULL Postage 6 cents additional 

This book presents tested plans that work, not untried 
theories. Its suggestions are practical, concrete, and 
usable. 

It tells how to plan the missionary work in the local 
Sunday-school, and then how to work the plan. 

It shows how to master difficulties. 

There are 38 charts and diagrams capable of reproduc- 
tion, scores of pithy sayings for motto use, and a most 
complete list of missionary books classified for readers of 
different ages as well as by topics and countries. 

The book is invaluable for the Superintendent, and for 
the Missionary Committee of the Sunday-school. 



CONTENTS 

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS 

I. Missions a Necessity in the Sunday-school 
II. Facts and Aims 

PLANNING THE WORK 

III. A Missionary Policy for the Local Sunday-school 

IV. The Missionary Committee and Its Work 
V. Methods of Instruction 

VI. Overcoming Difficulties 
VII. Securing the Superintendent's Cooperation 

WORKING THE PLAN 

VIII. Education— Courses of Instruction 

IX. Developing Missionary Intercessors 

X. Developing Missionary Giving 

XI. Securing Missionary Recruits 

XII. How to Secure and Operate the Missionary Library 

XIII. The Bulletin-Board and Its Uses 

XIV. Suggested Material for Charts, Diagrams, etc. 
XV. A Missionary Sunday Demonstrated 

XVI. Missionary Plans in Actual Operation 

APPENDICES 

A. Programs and Orders of Service 

B. A Missionary Equipment and Its Cost 

C. Bibliography 

P. Chart and Diagram Material 



GOOD THINGS SAID ABOUT THE BOOK 

A small, compact volume containing all the best plans 
and methods yet devised for awakening and maintaining 
the mission interest in Sunday-school. The whole book 
is up-to-date. It is a manual for workers. As such we 
commend it without reserve. 

A. W. HALSEY, 
Secretary Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. 

A treasure-house, packed full of practical suggestions. 
Mr. Trull is full of common sense and his book shows 
this emphatically. We most cordially recommend it to 
all who are anxious to make their schools potent for good 
along missionary lines. a. F. SCHAUFFLER, 

Chairman International Lesson Committee. 

You have hit the nail on the head. This is by far the 
best thing yet published and will do a world of good for 
missions in the Sunday-school. It is practical from the 
first page to the last. STEPHEN J. COREY, 

Secretary Foreign Christian Missionary Society. 

I have gone through the book from start to finish and 
consider it a most valuable addition to literature along 
missionary lines. H. A. KINPORTS, 

Secretary Young People's Work, Missionary 
Boards of the Reformed Church in America. 

Excellent; superior to anything in that line at our 
command. ED. F. COOK, 

Secretary, Board of Missions of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

Mr Trull has left little to be desired in this splendid 
manual. He has shown the -why," ''what and 'how 
of missions in the Sunday-school clearly and forcefully 

The Westminster Teacher. 

This handbook should unquestionably be in the hands 

of every superintendent. With it, there is no excuse for 

failure to make the study of missions m Sunday-schools 

a pleasure and a power. , i*r„„jj 

— The Missionary Review of the World. 

Order it through your Mission Board or 

The Missionary Education Movement 
156 fifth avenue, new york city 



APR 10 1912 



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